Greetings All! Thank you for participating in the Lessons to be Learned from Failure during the last Change session. Both Alexis<http://www.alexishope.com/> and I felt like there were a lot of important points articulated. To make sure they do not get lost and to encourage the dialogue to continue we have created a blog post on both of our website's. The "golden nuggets" from the discussion can be found below (For the full post visit http://bit.ly/Hz0Fyk or www.lassanamagassa.com/about/blog<http://www.lassanamagassa.com/about/blog>). The five key points by attendees were: 1. There is no fool-proof way to prevent failure 2. The intention and all possible shortcomings of an ICT4D intervention needs to be stated up front 3. Local ownership is important because it will help carry projects beyond the piloting phase 4. It is naïve to believe that "your" ICT4D project by itself will have a life-changing impact 5. Technology must NOT be the main focus of ICT4D-related research or discussions The five key points by local stakeholders in the video were: 1. ICT4D projects need to enhance activities that are already going on 2. Outsiders DON'T know what local stakeholders need, so include them in the development of ICT4D projects 3. Make sure the infrastructure to support your ICT4D project is in place 4. There must be funds to help take projects beyond the pilot stage 5. There are so many things (e.g. weather, trained staff) that make the maintenance of technology complicated If there is something we missed, let us know. If there is something that needs to be expanded feel free to do so. Respectfully submitted, Lassana Magassa http://www.lassanamagassa.com