A distributed control system (202, 300) for a gas turbine engine (102, 104) for an aircraft wherein, during operation of the gas turbine engine, an operating environment of the gas turbine engine is harsh and an operating environment of the gas turbine engine is benign, the benign environment being an environment which is cooler than the harsh environment, engine comprising: an input/output, I/O, module (206, 308) attachable to the gas turbine engine comprising: a first processor (210, 324) configured to execute a first software architecture comprising; an application; a data back plane adapted to interface with the application; a real-time operating system, RTOS, adapted to interface with the data back plane; and a hardware abstraction layer that is adapted to allow the RTOS to interact with one or more device drivers (510,512,514); and a first network interface device operably coupled to the first processor; at least one sensor operably coupled to the I/O module and configured to provide a signal to the first processor, the signal based on sensed conditions of the gas turbine engine; at least one actuator operably coupled to the I/O module and controlled by the first processor; and a computation module (204, 306) attachable to the gas turbine engine comprising: a second processor (208, 320) having higher processing power than the first processor; wherein the second processor (208,320) is configured to execute a second software architecture comprising; a component oriented application; a data back plane that is adapted to interface with the component oriented application; a RTOS that is adapted to interface to the data back plane and a hypervisor; and a hardware abstraction layer that is adapted to allow the hypervisor to communicate with one or more device drivers, wherein the second processor (208,320) is adapted to transmit to the first processor (210, 324) actuator commands to control the at least one actuator controlled by the first processor (210,324); and a second network interface device operably coupled to the second processor, wherein the second network interface device and the first network interface device are adapted to provide a communication network between the first processor and the second processor, wherein the first processor is configured to execute gas turbine engine safety functions, wherein the computation module is located in the benign environment and the I/O module is located in the harsh environment. an input/output, I/O, module (206, 308) attachable to the gas turbine engine comprising: a first processor (210, 324) configured to execute a first software architecture comprising; an application; a data back plane adapted to interface with the application; a real-time operating system, RTOS, adapted to interface with the data back plane; and a hardware abstraction layer that is adapted to allow the RTOS to interact with one or more device drivers (510,512,514); and a first processor (210, 324) configured to execute a first software architecture comprising; an application; a data back plane adapted to interface with the application; a real-time operating system, RTOS, adapted to interface with the data back plane; and a hardware abstraction layer that is adapted to allow the RTOS to interact with one or more device drivers (510,512,514); and a first network interface device operably coupled to the first processor; at least one sensor operably coupled to the I/O module and configured to provide a signal to the first processor, the signal based on sensed conditions of the gas turbine engine; at least one actuator operably coupled to the I/O module and controlled by the first processor; and a computation module (204, 306) attachable to the gas turbine engine comprising: a second processor (208, 320) having higher processing power than the first processor; wherein the second processor (208,320) is configured to execute a second software architecture comprising; a second processor (208, 320) having higher processing power than the first processor; wherein the second processor (208,320) is configured to execute a second software architecture comprising; a component oriented application; a data back plane that is adapted to interface with the component oriented application; a RTOS that is adapted to interface to the data back plane and a hypervisor; and a hardware abstraction layer that is adapted to allow the hypervisor to communicate with one or more device drivers, wherein the second processor (208,320) is adapted to transmit to the first processor (210, 324) actuator commands to control the at least one actuator controlled by the first processor (210,324); and a second network interface device operably coupled to the second processor, wherein the second network interface device and the first network interface device are adapted to provide a communication network between the first processor and the second processor, wherein the first processor is configured to execute gas turbine engine safety functions, wherein the computation module is located in the benign environment and the I/O module is located in the harsh environment.