On December 3, 2025, the OPC Foundation held its annual General Assembly Meeting (GAM), bringing together members and stakeholders to review achievements, financials, technology updates, and strategic initiatives. Below is a summary of the key topics discussed.
Organizational Overview
The OPC Foundation continues to grow as the leading organization for industrial interoperability. Membership reached 1,019 companies, with 60% from Europe, 20% Americas, and 20% APAC. The OPC Foundation operates across four regions with hubs in France, Singapore, India, and Korea, supported by 15 board members, 11 contractors, and over 1,100 volunteers. OPC UA remains the globally recognized IEC 62541 standard, with strong adoption in Europe, North America and Asia.
Financial Report
The OPC Foundation reported a forecasted income of $5.66 million and expenses of $5.58 million, resulting in a positive balance of $83,000 for 2025. Membership dues remain the primary income source, complemented by sponsorships and certification services. Additional funding for the Field Level Communications (FLC) initiative to carry out Phase 2 of their work with C2D provides the necessary funds for them to carry out the work in a timely manner. Membership fee adjustments for 2026–2027 were explained again to remind the members about the change taking affect next year.
Board Election Process
The election for seven open Board seats followed the procedure required by the bylaws:
- August 19: Email sent to all Designated Representatives requesting nominations by September 19.
- September 19: Eight nominations were received.
- November 3: Electronic ballots distributed via Big Pulse.
- November 17 & 24: Reminder emails sent to representatives who had not yet voted.
- December 1: Election closed at 5:00 p.m. MST.
We congratulate the following directors re-elected for the 2026–2027 term:
- Christoph Berlin (Microsoft)
- Steve Blackwell (Amazon Web Services)
- Andreas Faath (VDMA)
- Thomas Hahn (Siemens)
- Ziad Kaakani (Honeywell)
- Shinji Oda (Yokogawa)
- Praveen Rao (Google Cloud)
A big thank you to all participants for their engagement. We look forward to another successful year with this strong leadership team guiding the OPC Foundation.
Field Initiative
Good progress was made on OPC UA FX specifications, enabling secure and interoperable communication from controllers to field devices. Certification programs for OPC UA FX controllers have been launched, and the first certified devices are expected in 2026. The OPC UA Safety Compliance Test Tool was TÜV-certified in November 2025, reinforcing our commitment to safety and reliability.
Cloud Initiative
The Cloud Initiative aims to accelerate interoperability between IT and cloud applications using OPC UA. Key achievements include the development of a cloud reference architecture, open-source implementations, and solutions for Digital Product Passport and data sharing across supply chains. Work continues on interoperability testing and certification for cloud vendors.
AI Working Group
The OPC UA for AI Working Group is exploring how artificial intelligence can simplify engineering tasks, enable natural language interaction with industrial data, and support advanced analytics without requiring specialized data science teams. Current efforts include reworking OPC UA specifications into markdown and developing demo implementations.
Collaborations and Future Activities
The OPC Foundation strengthened partnerships with organizations such as Catena-X, aligning reference architectures for data spaces and regulatory compliance. Looking ahead to 2026, activities will focus on expanding OPC UA FX use cases, advancing cloud interoperability, and supporting emerging standards like the EU Battery Passport.
Global Adoption – A Unified Standard for the World
OPC UA has firmly established itself as the global interoperability standard for industrial automation. It is recognized as IEC 62541, adopted as a national standard in China (GB/T 33863.x), and integrated into local standards in Singapore, Korea and other countries. With over 427 domain-specific information models, 350+ specifications, and 17 open-source projects, OPC UA is powering digital transformation across industries worldwide. This harmonized approach ensures secure, reliable, and vendor-neutral communication from the sensor to the cloud—making OPC UA the backbone of Industry 4.0 and beyond.
Please find the slides of the General Assembly Meeting on our website. The slides include a link to the recording on slide 1: