Sousveillance

Sousveillance - what a great term.  The description I like is "watchful vigilance from underneath".  Normally, it refers to watching those that watch the public - ie, photographing the Police or ASIO.  However, in my case, I like to think of it as keeping an eye on the performance of government or private utilities and authorities that provide a service to the wider public.  

Normally, the only way the performance of an organisation is monitored is from above.  Organisations such as the Police Force and Energy Australia invest a significant amount of time and effort into producing annual reports that are essentially a form of self assessment.  The only people judging and commenting on their performance are either those that run the organisation, or those that control the organisation (a Minister in the case of a public utility).  The public really don't get a look in.

To me, sousveillance can be used to provide alternative feedback on the performance of an organisation.  This blog is all about sousveillance.  It shows clearly how well or poorly a variety of organisations perform when faced with requests from the public to clean up or fix up their assets.