Twin Transition: Managing Green and Digital Transformation Together

The twin transition treats green transformation and digital transformation not as two separate projects, but as one whole. The European Commission’s Joint Research Centre (JRC) defines it exactly that way: uniting two concurrent transitions. It has been a core EU policy priority since 2019. For Turkey, this is no abstract Brussels agenda — it directly shapes where an exporting SME stands in the European market over the coming years.

The short version: you can’t run a green transformation without digital infrastructure. Claiming “we’re sustainable” while unable to measure your carbon footprint, track resource use, or digitise your supply chain stays just that — a claim. At its core, most green targets are a data problem first.

Why isn’t the twin transition “two separate transitions”?

The JRC’s 2022 report, “Towards a green and digital future,” shows that digital technologies are the enabler that makes green targets achievable — across energy, transport, agriculture and industry. Without sensors, data analytics and automation, measuring energy efficiency or cutting waste is hard.

But the same report adds an important caveat: the two transitions are not automatically aligned. Data centres, networks and devices carry a substantial environmental footprint, so careless digitisation can work against green goals. That’s the whole point of the twin transition — managing that tension, putting digital in service of green rather than against it. For context, EU greenhouse gas emissions in 2023 were 37% below 1990 levels — the target is reachable, but it demands disciplined measurement.

Why is Turkey at the centre of this?

Turkey responded to the European Green Deal with its Green Deal Action Plan, published on 16 July 2021. Coordinated by the Ministry of Trade, it sets out 32 targets and 81 actions under 9 headings. What makes those plans concrete, though, is a mechanism at the border: CBAM.

The Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM, known locally as SKDM) entered its definitive period on 1 January 2026. For producers exporting iron and steel, aluminium, cement or fertilisers to the EU, this means measuring and documenting the “embedded emissions” of their goods. According to European Commission figures, Turkey accounts for roughly 12% of the mass volume of CBAM goods entering the EU — second only to Ukraine. The burden sits squarely on Turkish manufacturers’ desks.

State support is flowing in the same direction. Under KOSGEB’s World Bank–backed Turkey Green Industry Project, industrial SMEs receive repayable support for renewable energy, resource efficiency, waste management and the circular economy; the Ministry of Industry and Technology runs the process through the yesildonusum.sanayi.gov.tr portal and its twin transition initiatives. The common condition for most of these grants is the same: a measurable, reportable baseline. Which brings us back to digital infrastructure.

Green transformation is a data problem first

It fits in one sentence: you can’t manage — or report — what you can’t measure. The embedded emissions a CBAM declaration asks for require knowing how much energy each production batch consumed, where each raw material came from, and how much waste each process generated. When that data sits on paper, in scattered spreadsheets, or in supplier emails nobody can collate, no credible carbon report comes out the other end.

Sustainability requests, in practice, always tie back to the same place: energy consumption tracking, waste and scrap measurement, supplier carbon data collection, resource accounting per product. None of these scale on a ledger by hand. Each one needs a digital backbone that gathers operational data in a single place.

The backbone of digital transformation: ERP, CRM, procurement and warehouse

The source of sustainability data is, in fact, the operational data a business already generates every day — as long as it gets recorded. That’s exactly what the core software of digital transformation does:

Solution	What it does	Sustainability payoff
ERP (resource planning)	Unifies production, inventory, finance and cost	Energy/material use, scrap and cost data per batch
CRM (customer management)	Tracks sales, demand and customer relations	Demand forecasting that cuts overproduction and stock waste
Procurement software	Digitises suppliers, orders and approvals	Systematic collection of supplier carbon and origin data
Warehouse / WMS	Real-time stock movement and dispatch	Logistics efficiency, scrap and returns tracking

When these systems run integrated, the sustainability report stops being a separate “project” and becomes an output of existing data. The same infrastructure also lifts operational efficiency — so the investment pays back not just in compliance, but directly in cost and speed. That’s the appeal of the twin transition: the digital system you build for green already accelerates your business.

Xen Bilişim’s role as a digital transformation partner

For an SME, the real challenge isn’t which software to choose; it’s getting these parts set up to talk to each other and to existing processes. This is where Xen Bilişim positions itself as a digital transformation partner: selecting the right solution, deploying it, integrating it, and running it sustainably.

Scope	Content
Assessment	Analysis of current process and data maturity, a roadmap
Solution selection	ERP / CRM / procurement / warehouse software fit to your scale
Integration	Connecting the systems to each other and to e-document / accounting
Data & security	KVKK compliance, access control, backup and a cybersecurity layer
Ongoing operation	Maintenance agreement, monitoring and user support

One point deserves attention: the larger a digital system grows, the more valuable the data it holds becomes. So we don’t treat digital transformation as separate from security and backup — they’re part of the same project.

Where should an SME start?

A three-step frame keeps it simple:

1. Map the current state. Where does each piece of data live, which process still runs by hand? If you export a CBAM-scope product, that sets your priority.
2. Consolidate on one backbone. Replace scattered spreadsheets with an ERP-centred structure and connect procurement and warehouse to it. Once data flows from one place, reporting gets easy on its own.
3. Measure compliance and efficiency together. Pull both the sustainability data and the operational gains from the same system — the real return on investment shows up at that intersection.

Frequently asked questions

Is the twin transition only for large industrial companies? No. Any business of any size that exports CBAM-scope goods — or supplies firms that do — is affected. And the efficiency gain from a digital backbone is proportionally more noticeable the smaller you are.

Do we need a separate piece of software for sustainability? In most cases, no. A well-deployed ERP with connected procurement and warehouse systems already produces most of the data a sustainability report needs. Getting your existing operational data in order is a healthier starting point than buying a standalone “carbon tool.”

Does CBAM really concern us? If you produce iron and steel, aluminium, cement or fertilisers and export to the EU — or supply that chain — then yes. The definitive period began on 1 January 2026, and the first certificate surrender deadline for 2026 imports is 30 September 2027. The preparation window is open, but limited.

How long does digital transformation take? There’s no single answer; it depends on scale and the current state of your data. The right approach is to start with the most critical process and move in stages rather than changing everything at once. That spreads both the risk and the cost.

If you’d like to assess your digital maturity, the ERP / CRM / procurement / warehouse structure you’ll need, and your sustainability reporting requirements together, get in touch — we’ll map out a clear roadmap based on where you stand today.

Sources

• European Commission Joint Research Centre (JRC) — “Towards a green and digital future” (2022) and twin transition assessments
• Republic of Turkey Ministry of Trade — Green Deal Action Plan (16 July 2021)
• European Commission, Taxation and Customs Union — CBAM definitive period and scope (2026)
• KOSGEB / Ministry of Industry and Technology — Turkey Green Industry Project and yesildonusum.sanayi.gov.tr