Answer: A Last Name

In 1949, a dystopian novel by the name of 1984, fixated on the dangers of a surveillance state, began climbing the bestseller list and has remained in print ever since. A half century later, a researcher began a productive career developing advanced video analysis algorithms to help monitor and identify individuals via closed-circuit television systems.

The ironic link between the two? The book was penned by one George Orwell and the noteworthy CCTV advancements were achieved by one James Orwell of Kingston University.