Fog Computing

Distributed computing between edge devices and cloud. This term is essential for understanding industry 4 in industrial automation and PLC programming. It represents a key concept that professionals encounter regularly in their work with control systems and automation projects.

In the Industry 4.0 / Industrial IoT landscape, Fog Computing represents one of the technologies, architectures, or concepts that bridge classical OT (operational technology) with modern IT-style data platforms. Distributed computing between edge devices and cloud.

What makes Fog Computing distinctive in the Industry 4.0 context is its position at the boundary where deterministic real-time control meets non-deterministic IT-style data flows. Designers have to think about security, sampling rates, and data semantics in ways that pure-OT engineers historically didn't have to.

Fog Computing typically demands skills that overlap OT and IT. Engineers who can speak both languages are rare and command a premium; the gap will close over the next decade as new graduates enter the field with both backgrounds.