<s>
The	O
term	O
'	O
Digital	B-Application
Thread	I-Application
 '	O
was	O
first	O
used	O
in	O
the	O
Global	O
Horizons	O
2013	O
report	O
by	O
the	O
USAF	O
Global	O
Science	O
and	O
Technology	O
Vision	O
Task	O
Force	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
term	O
Digital	B-Application
Thread	I-Application
was	O
further	O
refined	O
in	O
2018	O
by	O
Singh	O
and	O
Willcox	O
at	O
MIT	O
in	O
their	O
paper	O
entitled	O
Engineering	O
with	O
a	O
Digital	B-Application
Thread	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
this	O
academic	O
paper	O
the	O
term	O
Digital	B-Application
Thread	I-Application
is	O
defined	O
as	O
"	O
a	O
data-driven	O
architecture	O
that	O
links	O
together	O
information	O
generated	O
from	O
across	O
the	O
product	O
lifecycle	O
and	O
is	O
envisioned	O
to	O
be	O
the	O
primary	O
or	O
authoritative	O
data	O
and	O
communication	O
platform	O
for	O
a	O
company	O
’s	O
products	O
at	O
any	O
instance	O
of	O
time.	O
"	O
</s>
<s>
More	O
narrowly	O
,	O
the	O
digital	B-Application
thread	I-Application
is	O
also	O
used	O
to	O
refer	O
to	O
the	O
lowest	O
level	O
design	O
and	O
specification	O
for	O
a	O
digital	O
representation	O
of	O
a	O
physical	O
item	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
digital	B-Application
thread	I-Application
is	O
a	O
critical	O
capability	O
in	O
model-based	O
systems	O
engineering	O
(	O
MBSE	O
)	O
and	O
the	O
foundation	O
for	O
a	O
digital	B-General_Concept
twin	I-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
term	O
digital	B-Application
thread	I-Application
is	O
also	O
used	O
to	O
describe	O
the	O
traceability	O
of	O
the	O
digital	B-General_Concept
twin	I-General_Concept
back	O
to	O
the	O
requirements	O
,	O
parts	O
and	O
control	O
systems	O
that	O
make	O
up	O
the	O
physical	O
asset	O
.	O
</s>
