The edge, the fog, the cloud, and even the end-user’s devices play a key role in the management of the health sensitive content/data lifecycle. However, the creation and management of solutions including multiple applications executed by multiple users in multiple environments (edge, the fog, and the cloud) to process multiple health repositories that, at the same time, fulfilling non-functional requirements (NFRs) represents a complex challenge for health care organizations. This paper presents the design, development, and implementation of an architectural model to create, on-demand, edge-fog-cloud processing structures to continuously handle big health data and, at the same time, to execute services for fulfilling NFRs. In this model, constructive and modular blocks, implemented as microservices and nanoservices, are recursively interconnected to create edge-fog-cloud processing structures as infrastructure-agnostic services. Continuity schemes create dataflows through the blocks of edge-fog-cloud structures and enforce, in an implicit manner, the fulfillment of NFRs for data arriving and departing to/from each block of each edge-fog-cloud structure. To show the feasibility of this model, a prototype was built using this model, which was evaluated in a case study based on the processing of health data for supporting critical decision-making procedures in remote patient monitoring. This study considered scenarios where end-users and medical staff received insights discovered when processing electrocardiograms (ECGs) produced by sensors in wireless IoT devices as well as where physicians received patient records (spirometry studies, ECGs and tomography images) and warnings raised when online analyzing and identifying anomalies in the analyzed ECG data. A scenario where organizations manage multiple simultaneous each edge-fog-cloud structure for processing of health data and contents delivered to internal and external staff was also studied. The evaluation of these scenarios showed the feasibility of applying this model to the building of solutions interconnecting multiple services/applications managing big health data through different environments.

In the 21st century, rapid urbanisation has brought both challenges and opportunities. Smart cities have emerged as innovative solutions to meet the complex demands of urban life. Information and Communication Technology (ICT) serves as the backbone of this transformation, integrating infrastructure, public services, and environmental sustainability. Within ICT, the computing continuum has become a key paradigm for efficient resource management, while Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the Internet of Things (IoT) enhance urban planning, optimise resource use, and strengthen governance. This paper systematically reviews smart city developments from January 2020 to June 2025, focusing on technological advances and sustainability goals in databases such as Scopus, IEEE Xplore, and Web of Science. By synthesising the literature, it identifies common challenges, implementation strategies, and future directions. The review highlights the central role of the computing continuum and AI, covering enabling technologies, applications, case studies, and deployment challenges. Our findings indicate that the IoT, AI, and data analytics are currently dominant approaches, yet significant gaps remain in citizen participation, equitable access, and long-term governance. Overall, smart cities aim to integrate data, digital technologies, and intelligent infrastructure to improve the quality of life while promoting sustainable, resilient, and inclusive services.

Cloud storage has become a keystone for organizations to manage large volumes of data produced by sensors at the edge as well as information produced by deep and machine learning applications. Nevertheless, the latency produced by geographic distributed systems deployed on any of the edge, the fog, or the cloud, leads to delays that are observed by end-users in the form of high response times. In this paper, we present an efficient scheme for the management and storage of Internet of Thing (IoT) data in edge–fog–cloud environments. In our proposal, entities called data containers are coupled, in a logical manner, with nano/microservices deployed on any of the edge, the fog, or the cloud. The data containers implement a hierarchical cache file system including storage levels such as in-memory, file system, and cloud services for transparently managing the input/output data operations produced by nano/microservices (e.g., a sensor hub collecting data from sensors at the edge or machine learning applications processing data at the edge). Data containers are interconnected through a secure and efficient content delivery network, which transparently and automatically performs the continuous delivery of data through the edge–fog–cloud. A prototype of our proposed scheme was implemented and evaluated in a case study based on the management of electrocardiogram sensor data. The obtained results reveal the suitability and efficiency of the proposed scheme.