OPC Unified Architecture (OPC UA) is the information exchange standard for secure, reliable, manufacturer- and platform-independent industrial communications. It enables data exchange between products from different manufacturers and across operating systems. The OPC UA standard is based on specifications that were developed in close cooperation between manufacturers, users, research institutes and consortia, in order to enable consistent information exchange in heterogeneous systems.
Download this OPC Foundation updated brochure that provides an overview of IoT, M2M (Machine to Machine) and Industrie 4.0 data interoperability requirements. It illustrates solutions, technical details, and implementations based on OPC UA: