Latin American delegation heading to Cambridge Tech Week in September

A 43-strong delegation is being led by Guillermo Ramirez Sneberger, President of the Cambridge Business Association, which inspires collaborations between companies in Latin America and the UK. Cambridge and Oxford are both important components of the initiative.

Key facets of the visit, including to Tech Week, will be captured for posterity by TV company CNN, whose Latin American team is accompanying the delegation.

Guillermo said: “Cambridge is a business cluster not easy to find in the world. CBA becomes its natural bridge to managers, investors and entrepreneurs and we have a number of success stories as a result of our collaborations to date.”

Ukraine will also be on the radar via one key visitor to Cambridge Tech Week. One of Guillermo’s fellow alumni colleagues from Cambridge, Zekeriya Polat, is coming to CTW and has shared his vision for further global business progress with his company, VISION IT, which started life in now war-torn Ukraine.

In just three years, VISION IT has expanded into several projects that have become a multinational and multilingual asset for railcar maintainers and operators for monitoring the health of rolling stock, data processing and engineering using IOT. The company swiftly became an official solution partner with Intel globally.

VISION IT is currently in active use on intercity high-speed rail vehicles in Ukraine and on three major metro lines in Egypt. Two projects are under development in South Korea and a pilot program is underway in Turkey.

Its total reach has impacted on around 1,000 rolling stock and the company now has offices and alliances spanning five Continents: USA and Blovia in the Americas; Asia in Korea and Taiwan; Europe in Ukraine, Poland and Turkey; Africa in Egypt; and Oceana in New Zealand.

VISION IT provides engineering-based intelligent solutions to major railway companies for Condition Based Maintenance (CBM) and Predictive Maintenance using mega data processing, IoT and Real-Time Live CCTV.

Its software tool brings all assets (trains, people, inventory and engineering data) under one roof, enabling users to operate via a Mobile App (IOS and Android). This means all data is measured, meaningfully interpreted and at users’ fingertips in real time 24/7.

Polat tells Business Weekly: “I began my journey in the railway business with Hyundai Motor Group, where I spent over a decade. My work took me across the globe – from Korea and New Zealand to Ukraine, Turkey and beyond.

“During this time, I realised that the railway industry, despite its robust appearance, was lagging behind in adopting modern technology. This realisation sparked many ideas but I struggled to organise and bring them to life. It wasn’t until I came across a Cambridge Business School banner that I found the spark I needed.

“Fast forward to 2019 and after graduating from Cambridge University I was able to bring together my ideas with a fresh perspective. This is when Vision IT was born in Kyiv.

“The concept for Vision IT truly took shape during my time at Cambridge. I was deeply inspired by the stories of engineers who were pushing the boundaries of innovation in aviation and other sectors.

“Their drive to challenge the status quo resonated with me and I realised there was immense potential for innovation in industries that were traditionally resistant to change.

“Cambridge offered the ideal environment for my ideas to grow, surrounded by brilliant minds and a collaborative spirit. The unique blend of innovation and support I experienced at Cambridge was unlike anything I had encountered before.

“The encouragement from my colleagues to pursue my vision and leave behind a decade-long career was especially impactful. Soon after VisionIT started, the world changed dramatically with the outbreak of COVID-19 in 2020 and the war in Ukraine in 2022.

“Despite these challenges, Vision IT became a beacon of hope. We harnessed technology to create solutions that were crucial for the railway industry during Ukraine’s difficult times.

“Our applications enabled real-time train monitoring, which was vital for evacuations and securing transit routes for thousands of people. Today, Vision IT is thriving, with a global team of 150 professionals spread across Ukraine, Turkey, Poland, Egypt, Korea, and the USA.

“Choosing to study at Cambridge was a pivotal moment in my life. It motivated me to share my journey with others, leading me to become involved with organisations like OxBridge Angels and the Cambridge Business Association in Latin America, founded by my Cambridge classmates. As a managing partner at CBA, I’ve played a key role in connecting Latin America with opportunities in the UK’s Silicon Fen.”