OPC Foundation Cloud Initiative: Winter 2025 Update
The OPC Foundation’s Cloud Initiative is a major collaborative effort to accelerate the interoperability of IT and cloud applications through the OPC UA standard. This initiative started in April 2024 brings together leading cloud providers, automation companies, and manufacturers to create a unified approach for industrial data exchange and digital transformation. The vision of the Cloud Initiative is to enable seamless interoperability between IT systems and cloud applications using OPC UA, with a focus on supporting advanced use cases such as AI-driven analytics, industrial data spaces, Digital Product Passports (DPPs), the Industrial Metaverse, and Digital Twin applications. The initiative is supported by major cloud providers including Alibaba Cloud, AWS, Google Cloud, Huawei, Microsoft Azure, and SAP, as well as a broad range of end-users and automation companies.
The key goals of the initiative include:
- Accelerating interoperability for IT and cloud applications using OPC UA.
- Supporting the use of OPC UA Companion Specifications and information models within cloud services.
- Developing a cloud reference architecture to promote best practices, standardized data sharing, and cloud-optimized OPC UA profiles, in alignment with global regulations such as the Data Act and Cyber Resilience Act.
- Establishing a new Protected Identity for OPC UA Cloud eXchange (UACX), similar to OPC UA FX.
- Creating a validation and certification program for OPC UA Cloud interoperability, addressing the current lack of standardized rules for cloud support among leading vendors.
The initiative has already achieved several milestones:
- Uniting leading cloud providers, automation vendors, and manufacturers.
- Aligning the initiative’s goals with real-world industry requirements.
- Developing a reference architecture mapped to each provider’s product portfolio.
- Creating marketing materials and open-source reference implementations for edge and cloud applications.
- Delivering reference solutions for the Digital Product Passport and data sharing along manufacturing supply chains.
- Progressing towards a comprehensive list of interoperability tests for OPC UA CX compliance.
- The initiative notes that “peace on earth and good will towards men” is still a work in progress.
Technical progress includes the development of OPC UA PubSub over Kafka (in addition to the existing protocol bindings to MQTT, AMQP and UDP), OPC UA REST (OpenAPI compatible), Cloud Library V1.1, AI and metaverse demos, WoT-Connectivity and WoT-Binding updates. Additional efforts focus on the European Cloud Accelerator project, Digital Product Passport demos at major tradeshows, and ongoing cloud marketing activities.
Cloud Reference Architecture
The OPC Foundation has established a reference architecture that encompasses both commercial and open-source offerings. This includes integration with major cloud platforms and a suite of open-source tools such as the UA Edge Translator, Mosquitto, the UA Cloud Publisher, InfluxData connectors, and Grafana dashboards. These resources support a wide range of industrial scenarios, from edge management to time-series data analysis.
Picture: UA Cloud Initiative Reference Architecture – Generic
A comprehensive brochure detailing the Cloud Initiative and its reference architecture is available for download, providing additional insights and technical diagrams for stakeholders interested in the initiative’s scope and impact.
Download the Cloud brochure here
Data Spaces
A central concept in the initiative is the creation of “data spaces”—trusted digital environments where organizations can securely share and exchange data while maintaining sovereignty. The OPC Foundation collaborates with the International Data Spaces Association (IDSA) to connect industrial ecosystems to international data spaces, enabling secure, standards-based data exchange across industries.
Catena-X : Data-exchange in the automotive industry
The OPC Foundation is also partnering with Catena-X to enable seamless industrial data exchange for the Digital Product Passport in the automotive data space. This collaboration focuses on semantic integration, open-source reference implementations, reference architecture alignment, and empowering companies to meet regulatory requirements efficiently.
Get more information here
Looking forward – next milestones
Looking ahead, the initiative aims to release an interoperability testing strategy, enhance the UA Nodeset Editor, and implement the UA Cloud Library for mapping CEN/CENELEC DPP interface and data models. These steps are designed to further strengthen the foundation for industrial cloud interoperability and compliance.
Contact
We invite you to join the working groups of the OPC Foundation Cloud initiative – just contact one of the 2 co-chairs Erich Barnstedt, Microsoft and David Tobon, Huawei under office@opcfoundation.org