Fog computing provides a conceptual approach for virtualizing and orchestrating computing, networking, and storage resources to process data. This issue helps toprogress the fog computing research field and offer solutions. It is clear that we are still in the formative phase of fog computing, and only the future will reveal which parts of the (sometimes competing) visions, solution proposals, and application areas will prove to be of most value to society and industry. However, as the four papers in this special issue show, the opportunities, as well as the challenges, are manifold. Some of these challenges can be addressed by adapting solutions that have proven their value before, such as the contributions on load balancing, scheduling, and NFV in this special issue.
