Juan Carlos, Salva and Quique are three Alumni of Business Administration and Management & Economics at Universidad Europea. Now, they are developing CCG, an economic system tasked with monitoring countries’ strategic economic transactions.
Please tell us when you studied and which faculty and campus you were at. How was your journey after completing your studies at Universidad Europea until the creation of your project?
All three members of the project coincidentally studied at the same time, from 1998-2002. Salva did the Bachelor’s Degree in Economics, while Quique and I did Business Administration and Management. All 3 of us studied at Villaviciosa de Odón Campus and completed our studies at the same time.
We all met on campus. I met Quique in the cafeteria in Building A and Salva at the residence we would end up living together in, without knowing what each other was there to study.
How was your journey after completing your studies at Universidad Europea until the creation of your project?
Each of us has had a different journey. Salva has always been focused on the world of banking; Quique, who has worked in various industries, has dedicated himself to technology and research in the area of tourism; while I have always been linked to the field of management, leading different companies on my own and collaborating with different types of partners, from occupational risk prevention to e-commerce. I started at a rehabilitation centre, then made a leap into the world of dental implants and ended up taking over the commercial management of a hospital that was part of the largest private medical group in Europe.
We therefore had very different journeys, but we have always remained connected by professional and personal matters. Because all 3 of us have now been involved in this project together for 10 years.
Tell us a bit more about your work. What do you like most about it?
Our work stems from the union of a multidisciplinary group where we thought up and created an economic system called CCG (Centro de Control General; “General Control Centre”). It’s a one-of-a-kind system with global protection. Within the world of finance, we believe it’ll be revolutionary for the global market. You could say it’ll be sort of like a “Financial Google”.
This system monitors a country’s strategic economic transactions of a certain kind. In other words, each country will monitor all these transactions carried out through a public body, by means of automated linear 24-hour checks or gradual checks (depending on the agreement with each party). These strategic transactions involve various unrelated phases. For example, one country may be more interested in rent control, while others may be more interested in payroll or import/export control. The more phases we implement, the more transparency these operations have.
Therefore, we could say that CCG is a system that provides guarantees: regular payment and collection dates, that the amounts are always correct in real time and that withholdings are made immediately. In this way we ensure that the money is fed back to the payer, the monitor and the collector. We also guarantee greater involvement of the bank in terms of investment as well as in the traditional sense, which is fundamental.
There are three pillars underpinning CCG: Transparency, security and performance from both a social and economic perspective.
Regarding what I like most about my job, it’s the fact that I’ve been able to get this far, to have registered this project and to have created something that didn’t exist before. We don’t know when it’ll be rolled out, but without a doubt the most positive thing is that we have executed this project ourselves and made it happen while also working our regular jobs.
What was the starting point for your project?
The project was born out of a simple conversation with a friend called Andrés, who is also an Alumni of Economics at Universidad Europea. Andrés was going through a difficult time because his payslip wasn’t reflecting the effort he was putting in terms of schedule and pay compliance. From there, we thought about it and CCG was born in principle with a view to payroll compliance and to alleviate situations such as Andrés'. Then, we gave shape to the project, we drew it up and prepared it for registration.
In what phase is your project now?
We’re in the second phase. The first was development, research and registration. Now, in this second phase, we’re looking for leaders. Specifically, we’re looking for a strategy consultant with prior expertise in Government and who is globally present. In this way, on the one hand we’ll have that leader and on the other hand, another to advise on the project’s research side of things. With our resources, we will cover both of these things.
We are currently in negotiation with leading global consultants, and once we close a deal with one of them, depending on the country or government, they will choose who to work with and what technology to develop in each case. In other words, we’ve been in charge of developing the solution while they will contribute the technology to carry it out. We’ve been on the market for barely two months after several years of working on the first phase.
What’s the greatest challenge you have faced or that you think will come up?
The main difficulty that we’ve faced is that, so far, we’ve been self-funding the entire process. Not only financially, but also in terms of the many hours we have taken away from our main jobs. Also, as I said, the research, registration and development of the system was complicated to carry out: talking to the property registry, explaining it, ensuring that what you say is correct, etc. In the end, it’s like writing a book. You can only write it once and then wait until someone wants to edit it as it is.
In short, it’s a real challenge. The registration alone has taken us longer than the time it takes to prepare for a top-level civil service entrance exam, about a decade; but we are quickly reaping the rewards. And while some will have been more on board than others, nobody has said “no” to our system yet.
Why did you choose Universidad Europea? What values and characteristics do you think it has that have contributed to your professional development?
In my case, I had done a first year at a public university, but I wasn’t really happy with the format. My calling since I was 14 years old had been to study Business Administration and Management and what I saw in my first year was not the model I had hoped for.
After that letdown, my parents suggested the possibility of going to Universidad Europea. At their open day they explained the class and seminar format, the way practical case studies worked, etc. From that moment on, I didn’t hesitate and today I consider it to be one of the best decisions I have ever made. Because everything they explained to me came true as time went on.
The University taught me to be practical, to know how to summarise, to make decisions efficiently, to apply the code of ethics in my profession, but above all, they insisted that we continually refresh our skills through lifelong learning.
This means I’ve got to this point as if I were a recent graduate, as I’ve constantly adapted my education to new developments.
What is your best memory from Universidad Europea?
There are so many, both academic and non-academic. Academically, I would say the dynamic classes, as we students had a very close relationship with our professors. In fact, even today we still have a relationship with many of them and we can still go to them with any questions we have.
Another good memory I have, going far back, is that in 2001/2002 I had the opportunity to be part of an internal club which focused on how to improve the university, always from students’ point of view: the state of classes, the bridge, etc. We proposed creating a suggestion box to leave notes for the professor without having to interrupt the class and many things... were done.
On the non-academic side, the best memory I have is thinking how Salva and Quique, who experienced and spent that time with me, are now my partners at CCG.
What advice would you give to those who have just finished their studies and are now going out into the working world?
Advice is always subjective, but I’d tell them to have their career goals clear, to keep learning continuously, to stay humble, to keep their friends and colleagues close and, above all, to rely on the University for support.