DTFF Application Pack

We can help you with your submission! Below you will find the tricky answers to the questions you need to express your interest!

Question 1-10: Submit some personal information to start the process

Question 11-17: Submit some Business Information

Question 18: Submit 'Yes'

Question 19: Submit 'Big data and analytics'

Question 20: Our company is undertaking a digital transformation project to modernise how we measure, manage, and reduce our energy and carbon emissions. We plan to implement the Carbonfit Energy & Carbon Essentials “Digital Coach” or similar, a cloud-based platform that will allow us to digitise Big Data through our current manual energy and carbon tracking processes and transform them into a data-driven, automated, and decision-support system. As an SME with under 50 employees, most of our current energy management is manual — relying on paper bills, spreadsheets, and supplier estimates. This approach limits our ability to see where energy is being used, where waste is occurring, and how our business performs against carbon targets or compliance requirements. It also prevents us from identifying funding or efficiency opportunities at the right time. The proposed project will replace these fragmented processes with a fully digital workflow. Using this tool, we will automatically capture, store, and analyse energy and emissions data from across our site. The system uses secure digital connections to utility bills, meters, and asset data to generate a verified energy and carbon baseline within days. It then provides an interactive dashboard that visualises our performance, highlights where savings can be made, and estimates both financial and carbon reduction potential. Typical users achieve 10–25% savings through data-led decision-making and targeted energy interventions. Beyond digitisation, this represents a true transformation in how our company operates. The platform introduces automation, data analytics, and reporting capabilities that we currently lack. It will remove the administrative burden of manual reporting and instead give management real-time visibility and insights for operational decisions. The system will also produce standardised outputs that meet the requirements of government and supply chain reporting frameworks, ensuring we are both compliant and competitive in future tenders. This project aligns directly with the aims of the Digital Transformation Fund by helping a traditional business adopt digital technology to improve productivity,
sustainability, and competitiveness. It will strengthen our internal capability in data handling, energy management, and digital reporting, enabling our team to make quicker, evidence- based decisions and to plan future investments in energy efficiency and carbon reduction with confidence. Importantly, the project is designed to be scalable. Once implemented successfully within our own operations, the same digital processes can be extended across other sites or shared with our supply chain partners, contributing to wider digital adoption and carbon reduction across Northern Ireland’s manufacturing sector. The total estimated project cost is £5,000-£10,000, covering system setup, configuration, training, and platform access. We expect measurable benefits within the first six months, including reduced administrative effort, improved data accuracy, clear identification of cost- saving opportunities, and a verified carbon baseline that positions us for upcoming funding and compliance programmes. By implementing the Carbonfit Energy & Carbon Essentials Digital Coach, our business will not only digitise how we manage energy data but will also transform our culture and capability around digital decision-making, carbon management, and sustainability performance. This project represents a key step in our journey toward Net Zero and long-term competitiveness in an increasingly data-driven manufacturing landscape.

Question 21: How do you envision that your business could benefit from this funding?
This funding would enable our company to take a decisive step in its digital transformation journey — moving from fragmented, manual management of energy and carbon data to a fully digital, automated, and insight-driven system. Implementing the Carbonfit Energy & Carbon Essentials “Digital Coach” or similar will deliver measurable operational, environmental, and cultural benefits that would not be achievable without support from the Digital Transformation Fund. At present, our energy and carbon information is gathered manually from invoices, meters, and spreadsheets. This process is time-consuming, error-prone, and provides little real-time visibility. The DTFF funding would allow us to invest in digital tools and staff training to replace those manual tasks with automated data capture, cloud-based analytics, and intelligent dashboards.

• Productivity and Cost Efficiency
  By automating energy and carbon data management, we will free up valuable staff time currently spent on administration and manual analysis. The system will highlight inefficiencies and reveal energy-saving opportunities of 10–25 %, helping us reduce annual energy costs while improving output per unit of energy consumed. These savings will directly strengthen our competitiveness and resilience in a market where margins are under pressure.
• Digital Skills and Culture
  The project will help develop new digital skills within our operations and finance teams,
  including data literacy, dashboard interpretation, and digital reporting. It represents a cultural
  shift — embedding data-driven decision-making into daily operations and empowering our
  staff to use technology to improve performance. These capabilities will form a foundation for
  further digital investments in automation, smart sensors, and predictive maintenance.
• Compliance and Market Access
  Through the Carbonfit platform we will automatically generate verified reports aligned to UK
  and EU carbon-reporting frameworks (ESOS, SECR) and to emerging funding programmes
  such as E-Data, NISEP, and future DTFF calls. This ensures that our company is audit-
  ready, funding-ready, and supply-chain-ready. As more of our customers request carbon and
  sustainability data in tenders, this capability will become essential for retaining and winning
  contracts.
• Sustainability and Net-Zero Readiness
  The digital insights provided will guide future investments in energy efficiency and
  renewable technologies. By quantifying our baseline emissions and identifying our most
  impactful reduction measures, we can set clear Net-Zero targets and track progress accurately. This will also enhance our reputation with customers, investors, and staff as a forward-looking and responsible manufacturer.
• Scalability and Long-Term Growth
  Once implemented successfully at our site, the same digital framework can be extended across additional facilities or shared with our suppliers. This creates a consistent data model that supports collaboration, benchmarking, and continuous improvement across the value chain. Over time, this will enable us to participate in regional digital-carbon clusters and funding partnerships, amplifying the initial DTFF investment many times over.
• In summary, DTFF support will allow our business to modernise its energy and carbon management, build digital capability among staff, reduce operating costs, and strengthen compliance and competitiveness. It will act as a catalyst for wider digital transformation across our operations — demonstrating how small businesses in Northern Ireland can use affordable technology to become more efficient, sustainable, and future-ready.

Question 22: Submit 'Other'

Submit by: Signing and Dating