A method of contextualizing automation system data in an intelligent programmable logic controller (110E, 110F), the method comprising: 1.1 collecting, by the intelligent programmable logic controller (110E, 110F), automation system data; 1.2 creating, by the intelligent programmable logic controller (110E, 110F), a structured representation of the automation system data; 1.3 selecting, by the intelligent programmable logic controller (110E, 110F), a semantic context model from a plurality of available semantic context models based on relevance to the structured representation of the automation system data; 1.4 creating, by the intelligent programmable logic controller (110E, 110F), semantically contextualized data using the semantic context model and the structured representation of the automation system data; and 1.5 storing, by the intelligent programmable logic controller (110E, 110F), the semantically contextualized data on a non-volatile computer-readable storage medium operably coupled to the intelligent programmable logic controller (110E, 110F); and 1.6 wherein the semantically contextualized data is created using the semantic context model and the structured representation of the automation system data by generating the semantically contextualized data as instances of an ontology associated by the semantic context model; 1.7.1 continuously analyzing the automation system data, by the intelligent programmable logic controller (110E, 110F), to generate new events using defined rules or patterns to produce event data, and responsive to a new event, collecting, from the storage medium, the semantically contextualized data associated with the event data, 1.7.2 storing the event data accessible to queries, and 1.7.3 providing query responses to a graphical user interface (400, 420, 435) for presenting live automation data and event data as stored by the intelligent programmable logic controller (110E, 110F) including contextual information indicating causal links between portions of the ontological model. 1.1 collecting, by the intelligent programmable logic controller (110E, 110F), automation system data; 1.2 creating, by the intelligent programmable logic controller (110E, 110F), a structured representation of the automation system data; 1.3 selecting, by the intelligent programmable logic controller (110E, 110F), a semantic context model from a plurality of available semantic context models based on relevance to the structured representation of the automation system data; 1.4 creating, by the intelligent programmable logic controller (110E, 110F), semantically contextualized data using the semantic context model and the structured representation of the automation system data; and 1.5 storing, by the intelligent programmable logic controller (110E, 110F), the semantically contextualized data on a non-volatile computer-readable storage medium operably coupled to the intelligent programmable logic controller (110E, 110F); and 1.6 wherein the semantically contextualized data is created using the semantic context model and the structured representation of the automation system data by generating the semantically contextualized data as instances of an ontology associated by the semantic context model; 1.7.1 continuously analyzing the automation system data, by the intelligent programmable logic controller (110E, 110F), to generate new events using defined rules or patterns to produce event data, and responsive to a new event, collecting, from the storage medium, the semantically contextualized data associated with the event data, 1.7.2 storing the event data accessible to queries, and 1.7.3 providing query responses to a graphical user interface (400, 420, 435) for presenting live automation data and event data as stored by the intelligent programmable logic controller (110E, 110F) including contextual information indicating causal links between portions of the ontological model.