If 2009 served to highlight the shortcomings of governments and entire industries, 2010 is centered on the solution, which can only be determined by the implementation of transparent practices. I have featured some bon mots on the topic below that lend a variety of fresh perspectives on Vision Critical’s concept of ‘effortless transparency’:

“Greater transparency is an unstoppable force. It is the product of growing demands from everybody with an interest in any corporation – its stakeholder web – and of rapid technological change, above all the spread of the Internet, that makes it far easier for firms to supply information… With greater transparency will come greater accountability and better corporate behaviour. Rather than engage in futile resistance to it, firms should actively embrace transparency and rethink their values and generally get in better shape.”
Don Tapscott, The Naked Corporation

“Transparency is vitally important in what can be a very opaque process in Brussels. We’ve decided to open this up so people can understand the issues.”
Horacio Gutierrez

“With the Internet world, we can have people make both sides of the (lending) market, bringing more transparency and efficiency. It can be both more capitalistically efficient and socially beneficial.”
Chris Larsen

Life is filigree work. What is written clearly is not worth much, it’s the transparency that counts.
Louis-Ferdinand Celine

“Our objective is to deepen and expand the market, reduce (price) instability, and boost transparency and efficiency.”
Darmin Nasution

“Along the way, there also have been major innovations and probably his best one is transparency: Recognizing the need to communicate continuously with markets in deciding how policy will be formulated.”
David Jones

“The condition in which nothing is hidden. This is an essential condition for a free market in securities. Prices, the volume of trading, and factual information must be available to all.”
Finance Dictionary

“A basic tenet of a healthy democracy is open dialogue and transparency.”
Peter Fenn

“I think it’s a good thing that there are bloggers out there watching very closely and holding people accountable. Everyone in the news should be able to hold up to that kind of scrutiny. I’m for as much transparency in the newsgathering process as possible.”
Anderson Cooper

“A comprehensive range of measures was agreed to increase transparency of financial activities, ensure better international supervision and prevent excessive risk taking. It is crucial this plan is implemented.”
Alistair Darling

“It’s time to fundamentally change the way that we do business in Washington. To help build a new foundation for the 21st century, we need to reform our government so that it is more efficient, more transparent, and more creative. That will demand new thinking and a new sense of responsibility for every dollar that is spent.”
Barack Obama