Trustworthy Certification by Independent Oversight

Abstract

The key to independent oversight is to support the legal, moral, and ethical principles of human or organizational responsibility and liability for their products and services. Three common forms of independent oversight are planning oversight, continuous monitoring, and retrospective analysis of disasters. These may be carried out by accounting firms, insurance companies, non-governmental and civil society organizations, and professional organizations and research institutes. Skeptics delight in pointing out that each of these approaches is imperfect, but the evidence shows that overall they are helpful in promoting trustworthy systems by way of continuous improvement to methods and improved training for leaders and staff members. Use of these approaches can be a competitive advantage that is featured in marketing new products and services.