The number of multinational corporation CEOs who say their desire to increase investment in Ireland depends on the country maintaining its status as an attractive location for R&D and innovation has more than doubled in a year, reflecting the increased urgency for Irish companies to remain relevant in the new value chain.

That’s according to PwC’s 2016 Pulse Survey, which also found that well over half of those surveyed (58%) said that they need to do more to measure the impact and value of innovation.

The percentage holding that maintaining Ireland's status as an attractive location for research, development and innovation (RD&I) is critical to increasing investment shot up from 14% last year to 30% this year, and PwC believes CEOs are struggling with how to optimise the value of R&D and innovation. A large part of this issue is possibly connected to the adoption and use of new technology, which is also a key driver of fostering R&D culture and ecosystems.

PwC also found that Ireland has more to do when compared with global counterparts in leveraging RD&I. According to the survey, less than a third (29%) of Irish CEOs ranked RD&I technologies as generating a return for stakeholders, compared to 53% globally.

In addition, less than half (46%) of Irish CEOs said they are changing how they maximise the societal value of their R&D and innovation, compared to 75% globally. Encouraging companies to evolve and help stimulate a vibrant RD&I ecosystem needs to be a cornerstone of Ireland's industrial strategy.

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Stephen Merriman of PwC said: “In the light of the intense global competition for RD&I mandates, it is hugely important that Ireland does everything in its power to consistently enhance our RD&I platform to remain an attractive location for investment. Key to achieving this objective is the creation of a clearly recognisable ecosystem, the lack of which has been identified as a primary constraint of Ireland’s RD&I offering.

“An innovation ecosystem would attract entrepreneurs, investors and key talent, allowing new enterprises to flourish and encouraging other companies and academia to set-up nearby to benefit from spillover effects.”

The full annual survey results are available to download from PwC’s website.