Former prime minister Gordon Brown has said Scotland needs elected metro mayors to help boost growth and create jobs.
Mr Brown made the comments as he endorsed a new Our Scottish Future think tank report, Innovation Nation, being published today.
It encourages the introduction of a mayor or provost, elected to represent major cities and the surrounding areas, similar to systems in place in the likes of London and Greater Manchester.
Other recommendations in the report include improving public transport between Scottish cities, simplifying the business policy landscape and forming a clear industrial strategy.
The Times reports that Mr Brown, the prime minister between 2007 and 2010, does not believe Scotland's current model is delivering.
He said: “Our universities are world class, our research output among the best in Europe but we are failing to convert that strength into business investment, productivity, or prosperity.
“Every £1 of research and development in Scotland generates just £1.46 of business investment. In the UK it’s double that.
“Across the OECD [Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development], it’s three times higher. This is not just a shortfall, it is a squandered opportunity.
“In this decade we have a once-in-a-generation chance to reset. As industries reorganise, as investment patterns shift, as governments around the world turn back to industrial policy, the opportunity for Scotland is real and it is now.”