Fog Computing as a Complementary Approach to Cloud Computing

The advent of digitization and its modern day Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) triggered a paradigm shift in product and product-service-system design across many sectors. Many related developments in the context of Industry 4.0 rely on the use of vast amounts of data. When it comes to managing and handling this data, one of the prime technology approaches is that of Cloud Computing. However, Cloud Computing has a number of shortcomings, such as data security and latency challenges. Recently, Fog Computing has emerged as a new approach to complement Cloud Computing. It operates on cloud layers connected to data sources and minimizes issues related to data transmission latency, reduced bandwidth, and cyber security aspects. In this paper, the authors discuss Fog Computing and the way in which it complements Cloud Computing. They also elaborate on the benefits of utilizing Cloud and Fog Computing in concert.