IBIT

Engages with industry to develop digital knowledge and talent

IBIT News

Digitally transforming peer-to-peer car buying and selling

Yousif Memon’s (CST ’17) passion for cars has transformed into an app that is transforming peer-to-peer purchasing of automobiles.

Kuaay began in 2020 when Memon returned to Temple University for Techstars’ “Startup Weekend.” He, along with Keenan Hawekotte, won the competition for their pitch which evolved into Kuaay – a peer-to-peer car buying platform.

Since then, according to Memom we’ve added payment transfer, DMV docs for all 50 states, VIN check, vehicle valuation tools, and shipping to the app. That means the next time I go out to buy a car, my phone is all I need. No more paper and pens, no waiting for the bank to open, and no begging friends and family for rides. I can get the car home and register right on my phone.

IBIT’s Digital Innovation Foundry (DIF) connected with Kuaay through their entry into Temple’s Idea Competition. DIF’s initial goal was to assist Kuaay on implementation and platform architecture. DIF brought in Stephen Hullender, now a recent Temple Computer Science graduate (CST’22), to lead the implementation of a key enabler for Kuaay – notary capabilities.

Now, Hullender has expanded his role into design and navigation and developing algorithms to ease transactions between two parties, especially across state lines. Learning how a mobile app works and contributing to the app’s development improved my confidence. I was able to obtain a wide breadth of knowledge in software development and architecting a solution.

Memon notes we came out of the gate solving niche problems for real people and are on the way to solve bigger problems for even more people by digitizing the entire purchase, shipping, and registration cycle associated with peer-to-peer car buying. Memon added that DIF support and platform architecture guidance has been invaluable in helping us move forward.

Manoj Chacko, Associate Director, IBIT, who manages the DIF – Kuaay relationship including providing advice on platform architecture, notes: Kuaay has the potential to completely digitize and simplify the way someone sells or purchases a used car across state lines.

Going forward, DIF is expanding its relationship with Kuaay into business mentoring and researching the used car buying market.

The mission of DIF which is part of the Institute for Business and Information Technology (IBIT) is to generate innovation by assessing, integrating, and prototyping digital technologies in collaboration with industry, startups, faculty and students. See: https://ibit.temple.edu/DIF

Learn more about Kuaay at: https://www.kuaay.com/

Workshop will focus on the role of metaverses, AR, VR, and digital twins

IBIT will organize an exclusive invitation only research workshop on April 28, 2023, in Philadelphia to investigate how next generation internet technologies including the metaverse, augmented reality, virtual reality, and digital twins will create a better experience for organizational products and services. 

The focus of the workshop is on strategic, entrepreneurial, design, business model, architecture, human-computer interaction, platforming, and ecosystem perspectives of the next generation internet.

The format of the workshop will provide a unique opportunity for accomplished researchers and executives to work together on how organizations can envision, source, measure, and change business models to explore and exploit commercial opportunities of the next generation internet.

For more information, visit: https://ibit.temple.edu/nextgenerationinternet/

Career Experience wins 2022 Digital Innovation Award

The Digital Innovation Foundry is pleased to announce that Career Experience is the recipient of the 2022 Digital Innovation Award in partnership with Temple University’s Innovation and Entrepreneurship Institute (IEI) Innovative Idea Competition.

Career Experience will receive $1,000 and mentorship to develop their idea for the Be Your Own Boss Bowl (BYOBB) in Spring 2023. The Digital Innovation Award is open to all Temple University students, alumni, faculty and staff.

Entries were selected by the DIF team based on the following criteria:

  • Digital – does the idea apply technology in an interesting and/or novel manner?
  • Problem – does the idea solve a real business or societal problem?
  • Practical – is the idea practically doable given current technology, context, and resources?

Jignesh Patel, SVP at AmerisourceBergen

Jignesh Patel has a wide-ranging, dual IT role at global healthcare company AmerisourceBergen. As Senior Vice President, he is responsible for the technology for all back-office functions, and he oversees enterprise data and analytics.

Ask Patel what motivates him each day, and he has a quick reply:

Problem-solving for the business. That is what’s most important. A saying I have with my teams is ‘Fall in love with the problem, not the solution.’ Because the solution can change all the time.

This approach is informed by Patel’s two decades in IT across multiple industries, including the financial sector with Vanguard and Goldman Sachs. Throughout his career, he has focused on skills building and professional agility.

I didn’t stick to one thing. I’ve worked across IT operations, IT strategy, IT delivery, and data analytics.

In the last year, he led a full back-end integration of a large European healthcare products company that AmerisourceBergen acquired, while continuing to drive digital transformation. For example, his teams create the tools, technologies, and platforms all business areas use for data analytics.

Data is the lifeblood of our company, data drives decisions and insights.

Joining the IT Advisory Board in 2022 was a natural fit, given Patel’s lifelong commitment to learning. He has an engineering degree and an MBA, and he still enrolls in an executive program every few years. He appreciates how IBIT connects the corporate world and academia and welcomes the opportunity to build relationships with Temple students.

Getting fresh ideas and thoughts from people who are unencumbered with years of experience is beneficial. Part of the DNA of being a senior leader is that you’re expected to develop junior talent. I am excited to work with the next generation of talent and help them think through what they need to do to be successful.