The appointment comes as CSIC progressed with phase two of its strategy which will expand its range of services and activities to drive innovation, cultural and transformational change across the construction industry.

As a Fellow and former Scottish director of the Institute of Innovation and Knowledge Exchange, Douglas will support CSIC’s ambitions to drive change in the sector through both commercial and publicly-funded initiatives delivered through its internationally-recognised factory and technical facility, plus access to its future skills programme. This will include creating partnerships to develop the skills and training opportunities needed to build the workforce of the future.

Having held senior positions at City of Glasgow College, leading on innovation and STEM, Douglas has a wealth of experience in delivering a range of transformation projects that support businesses and industry leaders to realise productivity gains and growth potential through innovation. He also holds a number of board and advisory positions with key public agencies and is a regular speaker on innovation, STEM and productivity.

Stephen Good, chief executive at CSIC, said: “The creation of this new role and appointing Douglas demonstrates our commitment to delivering our ambitious phase two strategy which has four key areas of focus: culture change, digital transformation, accelerating industrialisation and building sustainably.

“These themes integrate around the need to support the construction sectors transition to net zero carbon emissions by 2045. Douglas brings a wealth of experience in these areas and I am confident that he will play a vital role in driving industry-wide collaboration to help transform the construction industry.”

Douglas Morrison said: “There is a unique opportunity at CSIC to harness Scotland’s innovation capacity and I am excited to be part of a team that is committed to achieving positive change in the construction industry. I am passionate about digital disruption, innovation, technology enhanced learning and gender equality issues, and believe that a focus on these areas will support the transformational and cultural change needed.

CSIC was launched in 2014 and helps Scotland’s construction related businesses to innovate, collaborate and grow by matching innovation requirements with business support and academic specialists.

Building on a successful Phase One, where CSIC supported over 300 collaborative projects delivering over £750 million of additional turnover to the businesses involved and creating and retaining over 4,000 jobs, it is expected that CSIC’s Phase Two strategy will build on this delivering almost £1 billion of additional turnover for businesses and create and retain over 6,000 jobs across the sector.