IIC and OpenFog Merge to Drive Edge Computing Innovation

In a landmark move, the Industrial Internet Consortium (IIC) and the OpenFog Consortium have officially merged, forming the largest industrial IoT and fog computing organization in the world. The union aims to become the global hub for innovation in the industrial Internet.

Matt Vasey, Chairman and President of OpenFog and Director of AI and IoT Business Development at Microsoft, said the partnership will combine OpenFog’s robust academic network with IIC’s extensive testbed portfolio, enabling real‑world experimentation and validation of emerging technologies.

“We’ll accelerate our customers’ ability to deploy solutions and realize tangible value, while simultaneously reducing the perceived risk of adoption,” Vasey added.

IIC operates 26 dedicated testbeds, including a Time‑Sensitive Networking (TSN) facility that will play a key role in advancing the IEEE 1934 fog computing reference architecture—an initiative that OpenFog pioneered with the IEEE.

Established three years ago, OpenFog brought together industry leaders such as Microsoft, Dell, Cisco, ARM, Intel and Princeton EDGE Lab to address customer challenges around edge computing, latency, and asset control. The merger will deepen standardization efforts and clarify terminology—distinguishing fog from edge computing and illustrating how fog facilitates east‑west communication and resource sharing.

“Near the edge you may have abundant resources; fog computing enables their shared use for more autonomous operations,” Vasey explained.

The new entity is currently known as “IIC incorporating OpenFog,” with final branding to be confirmed in early 2019.

Bill Hoffman, IIC President, emphasized the strategic synergy: “Combining these organizations will accelerate industrial Internet adoption across all verticals.”