Modern research operates in an era of international collaboration. At the same time, competition between research powers for talent and impact is growing. In this context, shared global research information systems are vital to support cooperation and to enable an accurate strategic analysis of the research landscape. Persistent Identifiers (PIDs) are unique digital codes that uniquely identify the entities (such as people, project, funding grants, and outputs) that make up much of the research landscape. They are often international in reach, and operate as bridges between information silos. A set of high-priority PIDs has been the focus of a multi-year programme in the UK, sponsored by Research England and commissioned by Jisc. That programme has shown that there is both a need and a strong business case for investment in a PID support framework for the UK research and innovation sector. Without comprehensive adoption and use of PIDs, organisations large and small will be disadvantaged in the modern, digital-first, research environment. This document sums up the findings of this programme, and calls for a national investment in activities to implement PIDs in alignment with the UK's strategic needs.