New Report Finds Corporate R&D Budgets Increasing Amidst Pandemic; Artificial Intelligence and Sustainability Are Key Areas of Focus

(US and Canada) InnoLead has released a new research report, “Retooling R&D for a New Era,” that explores emerging trends in R&D in Global 1000 companies. It finds that R&D budgets in large companies are not being slashed amidst the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Half of the respondents in the new InnoLead survey say that, in the current fiscal year, budget and staffing related to R&D has increased, and an additional 39% say it has remained stable.

The survey, fielded in December 2021, also found that the top five current areas of interest for R&D organizations are:

• Artificial intelligence and machine learning
• Sustainability and the circular economy
• Digitization of existing processes
• New food ingredients and alternative proteins
• Augmented reality and virtual reality

The survey also found that open innovation practices — seeking solutions and technologies developed outside of a particular company — have moved into the mainstream. Forty-six% of respondents say they use open innovation regularly, and an additional 40%t report using it sporadically. (The survey received 78 qualified responses, largely from leaders at the director level and above.)

“Some companies tell us that ‘not invented here’ syndrome is still a barrier when it comes to sourcing ideas from outside,” says InnoLead CEO Scott Kirsner, “but it’s clear that open innovation is now becoming standard operating procedure at a lot of companies who have acknowledged that the vast majority of the best minds in the world do not work for them.”

The “Retooling R&D” report also includes qualitative interviews with leaders at companies including 3M, Kellogg’s, Comcast, and W.L. Gore to shed light on how large organizations are recruiting new talent, collaborating with universities, scanning the startup landscape, and prototyping in new ways.

“As we look to bounce back from the tragedy and challenges of the past two-plus years, the tools of innovation will be critical, and those who get it right will emerge stronger, more agile, and future-fit,” says Simon Hill, CEO of Wazoku, a leading enterprise solution for idea management, and the underwriter of the new report.