OPC-UA (OPC Unified Architecture) is an industrial communication standard developed by the OPC Foundation to provide a secure, reliable, and platform-independent means of exchanging data and information in the automation industry. Building on its predecessor, OPC Classic, OPC-UA aims to unify the different standards for data exchange, while adding features such as enhanced security, complex data models, and support for cloud and mobile applications. Unlike OPC Classic, which was closely tied to Microsoft technologies, OPC-UA is designed to be platform-agnostic, allowing for implementation on various operating systems and integration with different programming languages. By providing a standardized framework for machine-to-machine communication, OPC-UA facilitates interoperability across a wide range of hardware and software, thereby simplifying the complexities involved in modern industrial automation systems.