At the MWC exhibition, not only large technology companies but also Belgian IT companies steal the show. These Belgian representatives give MWC a black-yellow-red touch.
Last week, the MWC 2025 exhibition took place in Barcelona. Europe’s largest technology event is always accompanied by a (un)necessary dose of spectacle. MWC is the perfect opportunity to discover the latest technological gadgets, and this year the exhibition was once again focused on AI (agents).
Every year, MWC takes on a bit of a Belgian color. In the Belgian pavilion, IT companies from Flanders, Brussels, and Wallonia get the chance to present their technologies to the world and promote innovation ‘made in Belgium’. ITdaily visited the Belgian pavilion and spoke with several Belgian representatives at MWC.
Up to Date with VAT
Our first stop is at IT Place, a provider of various B2B software solutions. “The product we’re showcasing here is CommBilling,” says Michael Shatz. “CommBilling is a platform that automates invoicing for e-commerce or subscription services and integrates seamlessly into the ERP platform that the customer uses. The app has recently become available via Shopify.”
“One of our strong suits is VAT compliance. The platform automatically processes VAT rates in accordance with European and national regulations. We want to ensure that customers no longer have to think about VAT rules and are automatically compliant across Europe. We are now fully engaged in incorporating AI functions into the platform. Here at MWC, we want to further expand our international presence and find interesting partners to collaborate with.”
Keeping an Eye Out
The next company on our tour is Skyline Communications, which has brought Dataminer, a monitoring platform for network infrastructure. “The company originally started as a hardware vendor for telecom operators. The infrastructure needed to be monitored, and we’ve been doing that since the early 2000s with DataMiner. The platform is now used by more than a thousand companies in 125 countries,” says Wout Maes.
“I’ll clarify with an example: suppose you’re watching television in the evening and the picture suddenly goes out. Through our platform, we can quickly see where the problem lies. We then create a ticket for the vendor so they can quickly dispatch an expert on-site. We span the entire network chain, and the platform is multi-vendor: we have connectors for network solutions from more than a thousand vendors. A next evolution is that we can proactively predict problems using AI.”
“We regularly travel to exhibitions all over the world, but MWC is still quite new for us. This is only the second time we’ve been here.”
Cables from Eupen
The East Cantons are also represented at MWC through Kabelwerk Eupen. The company has three divisions, but its heart lies in laying cable infrastructure. “We specialize in so-called ‘passive’ telecom materials. For telecom, our portfolio mainly consists of radiation cables for different frequencies,” says Marc Thielmanns, who is very fluent in the country’s three national languages.
“We constantly have to adapt our portfolio to changing needs and technological developments. That’s why it’s useful for us to be here, to keep up with what’s happening in the industry. So we’re not necessarily here to recruit new customers, but to keep our finger on the pulse.”
SME Alliance
Not every company at MWC wants to present or sell a product. For the Digital SME Alliance, a European organization that represents the interests of SMEs in the tech industry, it’s more about recruiting members. “SMEs are the foundation of the global economy, and especially in Europe,” says Jamie Nutall.
SMEs are the foundation of the global economy, and especially in Europe.
Jamie Nutall, Digital SME Alliance
“Our organization counts more than 45,000 SMEs from 29 countries. The headquarters is located in Brussels. One of the best-known Belgian members is Unizo. We support SMEs at various levels to help them grow, from policy to finding funds. At MWC, we’re trying to further expand our network.”
Fan of Private 5G
Europe needs to step up its game with the rollout of 5G: this message has been resonating at MWC for years. Telcofan is trying to change that. The company from West Flanders is particularly fond of private 5G. “We provide advice and consultancy on private 5G, among other things. Our clients are public operators. We examine with them what is needed to offer private 5G services and also provide training in this area,” explains Lieven Vanthomme, who founded the company twenty years ago.
“In addition, we also have our own unique 5G solutions. One of these is a special SIM card that can be configured to activate private 5G networks. You can also use the SIM card for roaming abroad. MWC offers a great opportunity to showcase these solutions. Our customers are now mainly in the Benelux countries, but we hope to expand our international footprint.”
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Anticipatory AI
Agentic AI is the hot topic at MWC, but the start-up VoxelSensors is already looking at the next evolution within artificial intelligence. “We develop sensors for 3D sensing and eye tracking, offering high quality and high speeds at low energy consumption. This makes them applicable for smart glasses, for example,” says Robert Collier.
“We then link the data from sensors to a contextual AI system. It is aware of everything happening in your immediate environment, but goes a step further by trying to understand your intentions. The system can, for example, estimate where you want to go and proactively suggest navigation. We call this anticipatory AI.”
“We want to discover cool new technologies here at MWC. We have many ideas about the evolution of AI ourselves, but to sell our product, we need to understand well how the industry works.”
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