Let the people speak

Last week that staid and august body EURIM published its report on "transformational government".

The bit that caught the attention of some bloggers was the idea of "sous-veillance". The report said:

"New web applications such as YouTube or Patient Opinion enable people to monitor the state and to be heard. People can easily post videos of dirty hospital wards, of uncollected rubbish or of pot holes in the road, to a world-wide audience...Sous-veillance might transform political engagement due to its ease of use, by engaging even the time-poor majority and extending citizenship beyond the usual special interest groups.

What is extraordinary is how rapidly the notion of "sousveillance" has moved into the mainstream of political discourse - and that people can point to practical examples such as Tidy Oldham, and even Patient Opinion (which I think I would prefer to see as co-creation rather than any kind of -veillance).

But EURIM also says something else which, from where I sit, feels important. It says:

"The key lies not in treating users as passive recipients but in engaging them as active partners in the creation and development of their own services. This will require new community governance models from design to delivery in a ‘virtuous circle’ of participation, collaboration, commitment, accountability and feedback, both online and offline."

I think that's right. This isn't about "building a website" - ultimately, it's about building a different way of doing things.