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News www.thefis.org 9 Help to adopt new digital technologies Launched in December 2021, Help to Grow: Digital (HtGD) is a government-backed scheme to help SMEs choose, buy and adopt digital technologies that will help them grow their business. The Help to Grow: Digital scheme will offer businesses free, impartial advice and guidance about what digital technology is best suited to their business and how it can boost their business’ performance. It will also provide targeted financial support for eligible businesses, worth up to £5,000, towards the costs of buying approved digital technologies for the first year. To register your interest visit https://register-help-to-grow- scheme.service.gov.uk/ A£25millionScottish fund to improveventilation in businesspremises SME businesses in Scotland will be able to claim back costs of up to £2,500 to undertake work such as the installation of CO 2 monitors and remedial improvement work to windows and vents. Businesses will be able to fill in a self-assessment form to receive advice on improving their current ventilation systems and identify if they are eligible for financial support from their local authority. Further details of the grants, including eligible sectors, is available here www.findbusinesssupport.gov.scot/service/funding/business- ventilation-fund Transforming traceability for safer construction BSI has launched BSI Identify, a new identification technology to bring transparency and product traceability through the built environment supply chain. BSI Identify harnesses Digital Object Identifier (DOI) technology to deliver a unique, constant and interoperable identifier, (a BSI UPIN), which can be assigned to products to help UK manufacturers directly manage information about their products in the supply chain. The Construction Products Association (CPA) and representatives from across the built environment supply chain were involved in the development of this new ID system, which is being brought to the market in response to Dame Judith Hackitt’s Independent Review of The Building Regulations and Fire Safety, that called for “an identification system that could provide every component in a building with a unique and persistent identification code.” The new DOI system allows product information to be identified and accessed with certainty and preserves a persistent record. It supports decisions at any point in a products’ life cycle; from manufacture, specification, procurement, installation, use, to de-commission or reuse. Manufacturers can be reassured that their customers always have access to the most up to date information, as the UPIN directs users to a free, enduring and searchable registry where users can access all relevant product information, controlled by the manufacturer. How it works Manufacturers are issued with a unique BSI UPIN for every product. The manufacturer can mark or tag their products via QR codes, NFC or RFID tags. Once scanned, the BSI UPIN directs users to an open-access permanent page that holds all relevant and up-to-date product information so all product queries can be routed back to the manufacturer. Peter Caplehorn, CEO at the CPA, said: ‘By moving everything into a fully joined- up digital process, we can improve overall efficiency, product performance, safety, customer satisfaction, environmental performance and profit margins. BSI Identify is a unique digital identification service that looks to improve industry safety by solving the challenge of product identification.’ FIS Technical Director, Joe Cilia, added: “Being able to access product information at the point of installation or even years after it’s been integrated in the fabric of a building is vitally important if we are to maintain buildings for the safety of all occupants in future. BSI Identify will allow this to happen using a database that will be available in perpetuity, even if the company is no longer in business, and that’s a game changer.” Find out more about BSI Identify at https://identify.bsigroup.com/ Watch this video to see how BSI Identify works: www.youtube.com/ watch?v=tBepB2HSUAs 4_SFMar21.indd 1 04/02/2021 09:14