By Compiled by Lamont Wood

67 percent of managers worldwide say gaining a competitive advantage over companies that have slowed IT investment is one of the critical or very important benefits gained from deploying technology in a downturn.

U.S. counties use innovative IT solutions to deliver services with fewer resources to communicate more effectively with constituents, finds e.Republic's Center for Digital Government. The most innovative counties: Oakland, Mich.; Loudoun, Va.; Roanoke, Va.; and Charles, Md.

Innovation rules among senior executives, finds Boston Consulting Group. In a survey, 25 percent say innovation ranks first among their strategic priorities, and 40 percent place it among their top three. Top measures of successful innovation: customer satisfaction and revenue growth.

More than two-thirds of top innovative companies have maintained or increased their R&D spending, finds Booz & Co. Even the one in three companies that reported a financial loss for the year said they had increased R&D spending by an average of 5.7 percent.

Nearly 60 percent of senior executives plan to increase spending on innovation this year, finds a Boston Consulting Group survey.

85 percent of CIOs worldwide say they've avoided cost cuts by coming up with alternate solutions using practical innovation, such as improving inefficient IT processes, eliminating redundant processes and applications, and addressing underutilized IT assets.