From sea to operating room: the whole world connected

Sailing ships on the North Sea, surgeons in the operating theater—anyone who walked the trade show floor of the Mobile World Congress (MWC 2025) this week saw it immediately. In the future, everything and everyone will be connected; the world will change into one big digital network. The event brought together tens of thousands of leaders from the world of connectivity and hundreds of thousands of visitors under one roof. I was also present as a reporter for IO+. What particularly struck me was the central role of AI.

A jumble of stands, logos and bright lights. The crowd had been moving through the event hall since early in the morning. I also got up early on Monday, my first day at the fair. I decided to take it all in. After about ten minutes, I looked to my left and saw a self-driving SUV gleaming under the spotlight on a stage. On my right, a dancer catches my attention—a woman moving gracefully on a K-pop stage. She is surrounded by the holographic figures of a virtual girl group.

I don't have much time to look. On the other side of the event hall, an Italian entrepreneur is waiting for me for an interview—and that means at least a fifteen-minute walk. Giuseppe Carapellese, CEO of WuvDay, welcomes me with coffee and tells me how his app fights fake news. For example, WuvDay helps to recognize AI-generated deepfake images that supposedly come from Ukraine. The subject of the interview, AI, came up in almost all of my conversations with entrepreneurs.

Next generation products for consumers

One of the highlights of my visit is a tour of Huawei's facilities. Where most companies limit themselves to a modest stand, the telecom company has an entire hall to itself. I am amazed by the consumer products. There is a smartphone on the table. Not just any smartphone: the world's first commercial, triple-folding phone. A little further on I see the Watch D2: according to Huawei, the first smartwatch with medical certification for ambulatory blood pressure monitoring. With its CE certification, the device meets the highest international standards for medical devices.

At the conference, Huawei unveiled the AI Core Network, powered by AI. This network can optimize and maintain itself, which makes it possible to seamlessly connect AI agents, devices and scenarios. The guide shows us how such an AI agent works. He selects a number on a telephone and calls it. He tells the agent that he has broken down on the side of the road and needs to find a garage. The AI agent then automatically calls a garage in the area.

A sailboat on the North Sea

The importance of connectivity extends far beyond the consumer market. I attend a presentation by Maarten Verhaegh, senior sales manager at SES Global, a world leader in multi-orbit satellites and space innovation. As it turns out, he has plenty of ambition; he outlines the roadmap to 2030 and explains how the company, together with a consortium, wants to launch a network that will cover the entire North Sea. “So that even if you cross the sea in a sailboat, you will always have a connection,” he says. Airplane passengers will also be able to make grateful use of the network in the future.

As I am wandering around one of the many halls at the end of the day, I come across another promising innovation on the water: a high-tech buoy from Vodafone. The telecom company has installed several IoT devices around rivers that can monitor temperature, acidity, and pollution levels. This data is transmitted in real time to researchers. In this way, Vodafone is helping to protect Scottish salmon, among other things.

At a networking event, I speak with Bram van den Boom, CEO of TechBinder. The company focuses on IoT to make ships more efficient and sustainable. “A ship is a floating data factory,” he explains. Currently, the signals from devices on ships are often lost. “But we collect data, enrich it with metadata and send it to the cloud.” This allows companies to draw up emissions reports and gain insight into the maintenance of a ship, for example. And: “We contribute to the construction of new ships because our data gives you much more insight into what works well and what needs to be changed.” Last year, the company tripled in size, the CEO tells me. “We have vacancies and we are going to step on the gas this year.”

Holograms for healthcare

Digital connections are also playing an increasingly important role in healthcare. I come across a hyper-realistic hologram of the Dutch company Holoconnects. I have a chat with a hologram of an employee who is currently in Culemborg. He is far away, yet it seems as if he is sitting in front of me.

Holoconnects is taking the healthcare sector to the next level, the company's employees explain to me. Doctors worldwide can use hologram technology to participate in patient examinations and operations, making remote collaboration easier and more efficient. Patients can also interact with an AI assistant on a Holobox, which can help with ordering medication, for example.

Cars are becoming safer and safer thanks to digital connections

The automotive industry is changing rapidly thanks to innovations in software, connectivity and AI. My eye is caught by a large USV equipped with Harman Automotive's Ready Aware, a real-time warning system. This technology helps drivers recognize dangerous situations, such as at intersections, more quickly and react better.

A little further on in the same hall, another four-wheeler catches my attention. It is a self-driving minibus that has TIER IV software. This Japanese startup developed Autoware: the world's first open-source software for autonomous vehicles. The software offers all the functions necessary for fully autonomous driving, from localization and object detection to route planning and control, and is used by more than 200 organizations, including car manufacturers.

Full of impressions

I leave the exhibition full of impressions. I was only able to see a fraction of the tens of thousands of exhibitors, let alone speak to them. But I'm inspired by the conversations with dozens of entrepreneurs, the demonstrations of the latest technologies and the visits of the Spanish king and Minister of Economic Affairs Dirk Beljaarts to the congress.

After MWC, I realize one thing very clearly: almost every sector is digitizing at breakneck speed. What will the world look like in a hundred years? I can only imagine. In Barcelona I at least got a glimpse of what the coming years will bring.