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  • 1.  Small Business Digitalization - What we can do

    Posted 06-08-2020 11:34:00 AM
    Edited by Blake Ives 06-09-2020 09:58:24 AM
      |   view attached
    In March 2020, the Institute for Business and Information Technology partnered with the Temple Small Development Center to offer digitalization services for small businesses and non-profits impacted by Covid-19. As of June 8, 2020 we have completed 14 projects, 9 are in progress, 22 are waiting in line.

    On May 6, AIS (Alan Dennis, Eleanor Loiacono, and myself) announced an AIS initiative to support small businesses impacted by COVID-19. To-date 29 universities worldwide have joined the initiative. Some universities are focusing on digitalization, others on specific topics (e.g., cybersecurity), and yet others on placing interns. 

    On June 5, Eleanor Loiacono organized a meeting for all the schools involved. Attached to this message is a (revised) deck that we presented to the group (see link below). We hope it will inspire you to do something similar.

    A few observations: 1. Working with small businesses is very rewarding for both faculty and students, 2. Helping others is particularly relevant for millenials, 3. The work is quite interesting, 4. There are many teaching opportunities, and 5. Small business is an under researched topic affording lots of opportunties - and most businesses will happily share data!

    Thanks to IBIT corporate partners and my colleagues Richard Flanagan, Lauren Lewis, and Maura Shenker for making this possible!

    If you are doing something similar, please feel free to respond to this post and share your observations. 

    Munir






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    Munir Mandviwalla
    Temple University
    Philadelphia PA
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    Attachment(s)

    pdf
    SBDT.pdf   1.43 MB 1 version


  • 2.  RE: Small Business Digitalization - What we can do

    Posted 06-09-2020 11:31:00 AM
    Following your example, we created a similar initiative in the Cologne area (Germany). We have now received a range of project requests from local small businesses who are very receptive to the idea. One challenge is to mobilize students in this period because the semester right now hits the examination phase. More information is here.

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    Jan Recker
    Professor
    University of Cologne
    Cologne
    +4917637432113
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  • 3.  RE: Small Business Digitalization - What we can do

    Posted 06-10-2020 11:02:00 AM
    Edited by Munir Mandviwalla 06-10-2020 11:09:40 AM
    A few suggestions for mobilizing students after the exams:
    1. Pay a small project completion stipend. We pay $600 upon project completion. This is based on roughly 20-40 hours of total work. This compares reasonably well to internships that pay between $20-$35 per hour. Not sure whether that works in Germany and elsewhere though. 
    2. Expand the focus to adjacent relevant disciplines. For example, we also include students from Marketing, Advertising (outside the b-school), and Design (in the Art School). These students tend to be very curious and interested in adding tech to their resume.  


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    Munir Mandviwalla
    Temple University
    Philadelphia PA
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  • 4.  RE: Small Business Digitalization - What we can do

    Posted 07-26-2020 03:23:00 PM
    Thanks Munir, We did implement this program in our university. The experience has been quite rewarding for both faculty and students. Our students who have volunteered into the program have enjoyed the idea of working with real clients and and providing practical solutions to the SMEs. We had overwhelming requests from the SMEs seeking for technological support for their businesses. So far we have requests from over 100 SMEs! Screening is a bit of a challenge and we are working with a small number of student volunteers. We have completed 6 projects and a few are still underway.

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    Joshua Ndiege
    Assistant Professor
    United States International University-Africa
    Nairobi
    254-0720727594
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