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Radical transparency

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Radical transparency is a terminology used across fields of governance, politics, software design and business to describe actions and approaches that radically increase the <a href="Openness" title="Openness">openness</a> of organizational process and data. Its usage was originally understood as an approach or act that uses abundant networked information to access previously confidential organizational process or outcome data,<a href="#cite_note-Hammond-1">[1]</a><a href="#cite_note-Sifry-2">[2]</a> since partly popularized by <a href="Ray_Dalio" title="Ray Dalio">Ray Dalio</a> at <a href="Bridgewater_Associates" title="Bridgewater Associates">Bridgewater Associates</a> and in his 2017 book, <a href="Principles_(book)" title="Principles (book)">Principles</a>.<a href="#cite_note-3">[3]</a>

<div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="History_and_uses">History and uses</h2></div>

Modern usage of the term radical transparency coincided with increased public use of <a href="Information_communications_technologies" class="mw-redirect" title="Information communications technologies">Information communications technologies</a> including the <a href="Internet" title="Internet">Internet</a>. <a href="Kevin_Kelly_(editor)" title="Kevin Kelly (editor)">Kevin Kelly</a> argued in 1994 that, “in the network era, openness wins, central control is lost.”<a href="#cite_note-Kelly-4">[4]</a>: p.116 <a href="David_Brin" title="David Brin">David Brin</a>'s writing on <a href="The_Transparent_Society" title="The Transparent Society">The Transparent Society</a> re-imagined the societal consequences of radical transparency remixing <a href="George_Orwell" title="George Orwell">Orwell</a>'s <a href="Nineteen_Eighty-Four" title="Nineteen Eighty-Four">1984</a>. However, the explicit political argument for “radical transparency”<a href="#cite_note-Hammond-1">[1]</a> was first made in a 2001 <a href="Foreign_Affairs" title="Foreign Affairs">Foreign Affairs</a> article on information and communication technology driving economic growth in developing regions. In 2006 <a href="Wired_(magazine)" title="Wired (magazine)">Wired</a>’s Chris Anderson blogged on the shift from secrecy to transparency blogging culture had made on corporate communications, and highlighted the next step as a shift to ‘radical transparency’ where the “whole product development process [is] laid bare, and opened to customer input.”<a href="#cite_note-Anderson-5">[5]</a> By 2008 the term was being used to describe the <a href="WikiLeaks" title="WikiLeaks">WikiLeaks</a> platform that radically decentralized the power, voices and visibility of governance knowledge that was previously secret.<a href="#cite_note-Heemsbergen-6">[6]</a>: p.58

<div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Contexts">Contexts</h2></div>

<div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Radical_corporate_transparency">Radical corporate transparency</h3></div>

Radical corporate transparency, as a philosophical concept, would involve removing all barriers to free and easy public access to corporate, political and personal (treating persons as corporations) information and the development of laws, rules, social <a href="Connivance" title="Connivance">connivance</a> and processes that facilitate and protect such an outcome.<a href="#cite_note-7">[7]</a>

Using these methods to 'hold corporations accountable for the benefit of everyone' was emphasised in Tapscott and Ticoll's book "The Naked Corporation"<a href="#cite_note-8">[8]</a> in 2003. Radical transparency has also been explained by Dan Goleman as a <a href="Management" title="Management">management</a> approach where (ideally,) all decision making is carried out publicly.<a href="#cite_note-9">[9]</a> Specific to this approach is the potential for new technologies to reveal the eco-impact of products bought to steer consumers to make informed decisions and companies to reform their business practices.

In traditional <a href="Public_relations" title="Public relations">public relations</a> management, <a href="Damage_control_(news)" class="mw-redirect" title="Damage control (news)">damage control</a> involved the suppression of public information. But, as observed by <a href="Clive_Thompson_(journalist)" title="Clive Thompson (journalist)">Clive Thompson</a> in <a href="Wired_(magazine)" title="Wired (magazine)">Wired</a>, the <a href="Internet" title="Internet">Internet</a> has created a force towards transparency:

"[H]ere's the interesting paradox: The reputation economy creates an incentive to be more open, not less. Since Internet commentary is inescapable, the only way to influence it is to be part of it. Being transparent, opening up, posting interesting material frequently and often is the only way to amass positive links to yourself and thus to directly influence your Googleable reputation. Putting out more evasion or PR puffery won't work, because people will either ignore it and not link to it – or worse, pick the spin apart and enshrine those criticisms high on your Google list of life."<a href="#cite_note-10">[10]</a> <a href="Mark_Zuckerberg" title="Mark Zuckerberg">Mark Zuckerberg</a> has opined that "more transparency should make for a more tolerant society in which people eventually accept that everybody sometimes does bad or embarrassing things."<a href="#cite_note-11">[11]</a>

<div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Radical_political_transparency">Radical political transparency</h3></div>

Heemsbergen<a href="#cite_note-12">[12]</a> argues that radical political transparency consists of actors outside of the structures of government, using new media forms, to disclose secrets to the public in ways that were previously unavailable and that create new expectations around how information should be used to govern. A prominent example of these evolutions of democracy was seen in the creation of <a href="Hansard" title="Hansard">Hansard</a> in parliaments of the <a href="Westminster_system" title="Westminster system">Westminster system</a>, which started in pirate markets of pamphleteers illegally sharing the 'secrets' of what was said in British Parliament.<a href="#cite_note-13">[13]</a> <a href="Hansard" title="Hansard">Hansard</a> is now institutionalised in many parliaments, with full records of discussions in parliament recorded and published, while the texts of proposed laws and final laws are all, in principle, public documents.

Since the late 1990s, many national parliaments decided to publish all parliamentary debates and laws on the Internet. However, the initial texts of proposed laws and the discussions and negotiations regarding them generally occur in parliamentary commissions, which are rarely transparent, and among <a href="Political_party" title="Political party">political parties</a>, which are very rarely transparent. Moreover, given the logical and linguistic complexity of typical national laws, public <a href="Participation_(decision_making)" class="mw-redirect" title="Participation (decision making)">participation</a> is difficult despite the radical transparency at the formal parliamentary level.

Radical transparency has also been suggested in the context of government finance and public economics.<a href="#cite_note-14">[14]</a> In Missed Information,<a href="#cite_note-15">[15]</a> Sarokin and Schulkin take the concept even further, advocating for hypertransparency of government decision-making, a situation where all internal records, emails, meeting minutes and other internal information is proactively available to the public. Hypertransparency reverses the current Freedom of Information model of access only upon request, instead making all information available by default unless withheld for limited exemptions such as personal information or national security.

<div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Radical_educational_transparency">Radical educational transparency</h3></div>

A radically transparent approach is also emerging within education. <a href="Open_educational_resources" title="Open educational resources">Open educational resources</a> (OER) are freely accessible, usually <a href="Open_license" class="mw-redirect" title="Open license">openly licensed</a> documents and media that are useful for teaching, learning, educational, assessment and research purposes. Although some people consider the use of an <a href="Open_format" class="mw-redirect" title="Open format">open format</a> to be an essential characteristic of OER, this is not a universally acknowledged requirement. In addition online courses activities are also becoming increasingly more accessible for others.<a href="#cite_note-16">[16]</a> One example are the new and popular <a href="Massive_open_online_courses" class="mw-redirect" title="Massive open online courses">massive open online courses</a> (MOOC).

<ul><li><a href="Corporate_transparency" title="Corporate transparency">Corporate transparency</a></li>

<li><a href="E-democracy" title="E-democracy">E-democracy</a></li>

<li><a href="Open_business" title="Open business">Open business</a></li>

<li><a href="Open_government" title="Open government">Open government</a></li>

<li><a href="Open_society" title="Open society">Open society</a></li>

<li><a href="Open_source_governance" class="mw-redirect" title="Open source governance">Open source governance</a></li>

<li><a href="Open_education" title="Open education">Open education</a></li></ul>

<div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="References">References</h2></div>

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</style><cite id="CITEREFHammond2001" class="citation magazine cs1">Hammond, Allen (March–April 2001). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/56853/allen-l-hammond/digitally-empowered-development">"Digitally Empowered Development"</a>. Foreign Affairs. <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20111220042005/http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/56853/allen-l-hammond/digitally-empowered-development">Archived</a> from the original on December 20, 2011. Retrieved April 15, 2012.</cite> <code class="cs1-code">{{cite magazine}}</code>: Cite magazine requires <code class="cs1-code">|magazine=</code> (help)

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<li id="cite_note-Kelly-4"><a href="#cite_ref-Kelly_4-0">^</a> <cite id="CITEREFKelly1994" class="citation book cs1">Kelly, Kevin (1994). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://archive.org/details/outofcontrolrise00kell">Out of control : the rise of neo-biological civilization</a>. Addison-Wesley. <a href="ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <bdi>9780201577938</bdi>.</cite>

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<li id="cite_note-Anderson-5"><a href="#cite_ref-Anderson_5-0">^</a> <cite id="CITEREFAnderson2006" class="citation web cs1">Anderson, Chris (November 26, 2006). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120512075807/http://www.longtail.com/the_long_tail/2006/11/in_praise_of_ra.html">"The LongTale: In Praise of Radical Transparency"</a>. Archived from <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.longtail.com/the_long_tail/2006/11/in_praise_of_ra.html">the original</a> on May 12, 2012. Retrieved April 15, 2012.</cite>

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<li id="cite_note-Heemsbergen-6"><a href="#cite_ref-Heemsbergen_6-0">^</a> <cite id="CITEREFHeemsbergen2008" class="citation cs2">Heemsbergen, Luke (2008), Radical Pockets of Digital Democracy: Deleuzian Grandeur?, Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association, August 28–31, 2008</cite>

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<li id="cite_note-7"><a href="#cite_ref-7">^</a> <cite id="CITEREFBernardiLaCross2005" class="citation web cs1">Bernardi, Richard A.; LaCross, Catherine C. (April 2005). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.nysscpa.org/cpajournal/2005/405/essentials/p34.htm">"Corporate Transparency: Code of Ethics Disclosures"</a>. The CPA Journal. <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120109142615/http://www.nysscpa.org/cpajournal/2005/405/essentials/p34.htm">Archived</a> from the original on January 9, 2012. Retrieved December 25, 2011.</cite>

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<li id="cite_note-8"><a href="#cite_ref-8">^</a> Tapscott, D., & Ticoll, D. (2003). The naked corporation: How the age of transparency will revolutionize business. New York: Free Press.

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<li id="cite_note-12"><a href="#cite_ref-12">^</a> <cite id="CITEREFHeemsbergen2021" class="citation book cs1">Heemsbergen, Luke (2021). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.emerald.com/insight/publication/doi/10.1108/9781800437623">Radical Transparency and Digital Democracy</a>. London: Emerald. <a href="Doi_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="Doi (identifier)">doi</a>:<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://doi.org/10.1108%2F9781800437623">10.1108/9781800437623</a>. <a href="ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <bdi>9781800437623</bdi>. <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20210817085055/https://books.emeraldinsight.com/page/detail/Radical-transparency-and-digital-democracy/?k=9781800437630">Archived</a> from the original on 2021-08-17. Retrieved 2022-04-05.</cite>

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<li id="cite_note-13"><a href="#cite_ref-13">^</a> <cite id="CITEREFHansard1829" class="citation book cs1">Hansard, Thomas (1829). Hansard's parliamentary history vol. xvii A.D. 1771–74. In Appendix to, Memoir of Brass Crosby, esq. alderman of the city of London, and Lord Mayor 1770–1771. London: R. Jennings.</cite>

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<li id="cite_note-14"><a href="#cite_ref-14">^</a> <cite id="CITEREFDavid_Brin" class="citation web cs1">David Brin. <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.davidbrin.com/radicaltransparency.html">"Radical Transparency"</a>. <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150117000621/http://www.davidbrin.com/radicaltransparency.html">Archived</a> from the original on January 17, 2015. Retrieved January 16, 2015.</cite>

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<li id="cite_note-15"><a href="#cite_ref-15">^</a> <cite id="CITEREFSarokinSchulkin2016" class="citation book cs1">Sarokin, David; Schulkin, Jay (2016-08-26). Missed Information: Better Information for Building a Wealthier, More Sustainable Future. MIT Press. <a href="ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <bdi>978-0262034920</bdi>.</cite>

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<li id="cite_note-16"><a href="#cite_ref-16">^</a> Baltzersen, R. K. (2010). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.ascilite.org.au/ajet/ajet26/baltzersen.html">Radical transparency: Open access as a key concept in wiki pedagogy</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130215062212/http://www.ascilite.org.au/ajet/ajet26/baltzersen.html">Archived</a> 2013-02-15 at the <a href="Wayback_Machine" title="Wayback Machine">Wayback Machine</a>. Australasian Journal of Educational Technology, 26(6), p.791-809. Retrieved May 13, 2013

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<div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Further_reading">Further reading</h2></div>

<ul><li><cite id="CITEREFRoose2011" class="citation news cs1">Roose, Kevin (April 10, 2011). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://nymag.com/news/business/wallstreet/ray-dalio-2011-4/">"Pursuing Self-Interest in Harmony With the Laws of the Universe and Contributing to Evolution Is Universally Rewarded"</a>. New York Magazine.</cite></li>

<li>Rock, David. "<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/your-brain-work/201210/why-radical-transparency-is-good-business">Why Radical Transparency Is Good for Business</a>." <a href="Psychology_Today" title="Psychology Today">Psychology Today</a>. October 15, 2012.</li>

<li>Brin, David. "<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.metroactive.com/features/transparent-society.html">World Cyberwar And the Inevitability of Radical Transparency</a>." <a href="Metro_Silicon_Valley" title="Metro Silicon Valley">Metroactive</a>. July 6, 2011.</li>

<li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/0738201448">The Transparent Society: Will Technology Force Us to Choose Between Privacy and Freedom? - by David Brin</a></li>

<li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/0470190825">Radically Transparent: Monitoring and Managing Reputations Online - by Andy Beal and Judy Strauss</a></li>

<li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://coventryuniversity.podbean.com/mobile/2011/03/16/why-wikileaks-might-not-be-as-radical-as-it-thinks-clare-birchall/">Clare Birchall, podcast, 'Why WikiLeaks might not be as radical as it thinks'</a></li>

<li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://tcs.sagepub.com/content/28/7-8.toc">Clare Birchall (ed) 'Secrecy and Transparency', Theory, Culture & Society, 7-8, Dec 2011.</a></li>

<li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://kcl.academia.edu/ClareBirchall/Papers/441523/_Theres_been_too_much_secrecy_in_this_city_The_False_Choice_between_Secrecy_and_Transparency_in_US_Politics">Clare Birchall, '"There's been too much secrecy in this city": The False Choice between Secrecy and Transparency in US Politics', Cultural Politics, March 2011.</a></li>

<li>McStay, Andrew. <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20140903083650/http://www.peterlang.com/index.cfm?event=cmp.ccc.seitenstruktur.detailseiten&seitentyp=produkt&pk=68001&cid=681">Privacy and Philosophy: New Media and Affective Protocol</a>. New York: Peter Lang. 2014.</li>

<li>Emmanuel Alloa (ed.) This Obscure Thing Called Transparency. Aesthetics and Politics of a Contemporary Metaphor, Leuven: Leuven University Press, 2022.</li></ul></div><div><div class="zim-footer">

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