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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