The jargon-totting development community and the gadget-happy technologists are both fond of coining and bandying acronyms. Few outside their circles can figure out what these multi-letter assortments stand for.

As these mind bogglers go, the just launched UN-GAID is a double-whammy: it's an acronym within an acronym. It stands for United Nations Global Alliance for ICT and Development. And ICT itself is short-hand for 'information and communication technologies' -- gadgets and processes that help move information quickly and efficiently, allowing communications over vast distances.