Guest Editorial Special Issue on Empowering the Future Generation Systems: Opportunities by the Convergence of Cloud, Edge, AI, and IoT

The future generation of the Internet of Things (IoT) systems is characterized by the fusion of technologies—from edge–fog–cloud computing to artificial intelligence (AI) and blockchain—closing the gap between the physical and digital worlds [A1]. Although these technologies have been developed separately over time, the synergy among them has taken a giant leap. We are witnessing a fast-paced convergence of these technologies resulting in a fundamental paradigm shift unlocking vast benefits and opportunities across vertical markets. However, there are still several barriers, such as a lack of consensus toward any reference models or best practices, hindering the full fusion of these technologies [A1]. To tackle these challenges and facilitate this promising transformation, this special issue was organized to provide a holistic multidisciplinary reference for solutions, architectures, protocols, services, and applications addressing all aspects of the future generation of IoT systems via the fusion of edge, cloud, AI, and blockchain, while considering the corresponding challenges. Thanks to the enormous support from the Editor-in-Chief, Prof. Honggang Wang, and the dedicated work of many reviewers, after a rigorous review process, 27 excellent articles out of 125 submissions were accepted for inclusion in this special issue of the IEEE Internet of Things Journal. We introduce these papers and highlight their key contributions below.