Digital networking has been a big topic for years at the Hanover industrial fair. What the event shows in 2019 is just how important fast data transmission technology is for market players. 

Robots are mastering the most spectacular tasks; their human colleagues are wearing VR headsets and using data gloves to make sure that the 3D printer produces the right part just in time — all of that may be fascinating, but doesn't really steal the show anymore at the world's biggest industrial fair, Hannover Messe in Germany.

It's the same images all over again, but maybe the most important things are invisible. While the exhibition halls in Hanover haven't changed that much, the technology on display has been brought up to date.

The motto of this year's show is "Integrated Industry — Industrial Intelligence." So, what it's all about is the advance of artificial intelligence (AI) and complex facilities that maintain themselves or at least report about any glitches.

At the fair's 5G Arena, a special test field was set up, enabling machines to communicate with each other about 100 times faster than before. It may not look so spectacular at first glance, watching robots doing their job and self-driving machines getting from A to B. And yet we're witnessing a significant quality improvement, with more sensors in use, more data transmission processes — and all of that wireless. Not only does this lower costs, but it also makes the machines in question more flexible.