The first of three reports as part of EC5.1 has been released by DETI and concerns the definition of the Digitial Thread.
Executive Summary
The past decade has seen an explosion of Digital Technology that has the potential to transform engineering practice. As a result, a wealth of terminology from both industry and academia has been created in an attempt to articulate the opportunities it presents. With new terms and definitions being used on a daily basis, it has become difficult for engineering organisations to understand the Digital Engineering Landscape and how, when, and where to deploy new digital technologies in their engineering processes.
The first phase of EC5—Digital Thread provides a definition of the Digital Thread and a framework to understand its features. This has been achieved through a review of industry and academic literature. The intended result is to equip industry with a common language by which they can discuss the potential of Digital Threads and the consequent benefits arising from its adoption.
With the completion of this report, EC5 now continues into the second phase, which is to identify the tools, methods and best practice that one might encounter/use when implementing the Digital Thread. DETI will subsequently use these tools in their Proofs-of-Concept, thereby providing a series of case studies that will provide an insight into the value added by the Digital Thread.