in erik hersman's post at http://whiteafrican.com/2011/11/02/the-subtle-condescension-of-ict4d, he says: "...we’re doing ourselves a disservice with this terminology and that it has a negative perception in the tech startup culture in Africa. Technology is about overcoming inefficiencies in the system, and products succeed because they solve real needs within communities. In Africa, as in the West, some of these solutions are for-profit and some not-for-profit. It’s important to invest in the local startups involved in trying to solve these problems and come at it from a more objective view, instead of labeling innovative technology solutions from Africa automatically as ICT4D." erik's thoughts have sparked a lively debate on his blog that might be interesting to folks on this list. if you want other perspectives on the term, jonathan donner has a nice overview at http://jonathandonner.com/archives/242. yaw