One of Trent President Bonnie Patterson's favourite alumnus, trotted out at every possible occasion, is Don Tapscott. Co-author of the book The Naked Corporation, Tapscott has made quite a name for himself presenting the case that there are benefits for organizations to operate transparently and accountably. He tells us that, thanks in large part to accessible technology, we have entered an "age of transparency" that corporate entities cannot avoid - and can no longer afford to ignore. Of transparency he says;

It's a powerful new force in the economy that's changing the way every institution operates and the ways that we build trust.

Speaking at Western Tapscott made what appears to be his first public pronouncement regarding universities, stating that transparency should apply to post-secondary institutions.

Trent Board of Governors member Anna Lopes is credited with contributing to the book by providing Tapscott and his co-author with "valuable ideas and advice that repeatedly brought us down to earth. We owe them our highest regards." Anna Lopes is Don Tapscott's wife.

Trent has honoured the pair by hosting the annual Don Tapscott and Ana Lopes Business and Society Lecture Series. This past January the series speaker was none other than Joel Bakan, the author of The Corporation: The Pathological Pursuit of Profit and Power. Of corporations Bakan says;

No one would seriously suggest that individuals should regulate themselves, that laws against murder, assault, and theft are unnecessary because people are socially responsible. Yet oddly, we are asked to believe that corporate persons - institutional psychopaths who lack any sense of moral conviction and who have the power and motivation to cause harm and devastation in the world - should be left free to govern themselves.

According to Tapscott;

Trust is really the expectation that the other party will be honest and abide by their commitments and increasingly that they'll be open. You might as well do it because people are going to find out anyway. Be actively transparent rather than being forced to do so.

Yet today we see the Ontario universities desperately holding on to their exemption from provincial Freedom of Information legislation while they receive more than $2-billion/year from the public purse. In addition they receive millions of dollars from federal foundations that are themselves exempt from federal Access to Information legislation (like CFI). Trent appears to be suffering from all the major ailments identified by Tapscott and Bakan.

The current administration was supposed to address the specific ailments identified in the Arthurs-Lorimer Report of 1997. Unfortunately the general perception is that matters have worsened, secrecy increased, the academic senate has lost its say and influence in the management of the university, the Board of Directors has become submissive to management and reduced to simply acting in an "advisory" manner, and corporatization has run rampant.

Are we witnessing events at Trent and elsewhere add growing validity to what Professor Kauffman said in his paper Malfeasance in academe and its danger for democracy;

In practice University administrations are no more capable of policing themselves than is Wall Street.

In the absence of transparency and accountability, how can we be assured that the costs of education are being held in check and that postsecondary education will remain affordable and accessible?

One can only hope that Lopes, with her intimate understanding of "the age of transparency", will begin to actively direct Trent management to operate in harmony with the themes of transparency and accountability identified in Tapscott's book.

Perhaps then Trent will offer the public meaningful details and facts regarding the DNA cluster project, as well as other projects and operations that have remained shrouded in secrecy?

Please see the related letter to the Editor of the Peterborough Examiner published February 17, 2005.

Tapscott's own advice is to become actively transparent willingly, because in the end you'll be forced to do so anyway.

Author and entrepreneur Don Tapscott speaks to Ivey students regarding how the age of transparency will revolutionize business.

Financial data, grievances, internal memos, product weakness – good news and bad, it can be seen by anyone who knows where to look.

For author and entrepreneur Don Tapscott, the new world of transparency is revolutionizing every aspect of the economy and forcing corporations to rethink fundamental values. And that’s a good thing, he says.

"Transparency as a force is affecting every institution," says Tapscott, who spoke to students at Western’s Ivey School of Business February 3.

"Everybody is opening up because people are going to find out anyway, and when you’re open it turns out there are all kinds of benefits to doing that."

The author of The Naked Corporation, Tapscott says transparency gives you the right to operate and stay in business, adding it creates a network of trust with the consumer which ultimately gives you a competitive advantage over the competition.

In the case of Western and other post-secondary institutions, Tapscott says transparency needs to apply as well.

"Universities historically have had their little bastions of opacity, but they’ve tended to be fairly open institutions," he says. "When you just consider academic discussion, which by definition is kind of open, the peer review process, science and research in the university…it’s a very open process.

"On the other hand, a lot of institutions, universities included, have not exactly has the great transparencies towards various stakeholder groups."

Tapscott says the "train has left the station" as far as businesses entering this extraordinary age of openness, which he says is much different than disclosure.

"It’s a powerful new force in the economy that’s changing the way every institution operates and the ways that we build trust," he says.

"Trust is really the expectation that the other party will be honest and abide by their commitments and increasingly that they’ll be open. You might as well do it because people are going to find out anyway. Be actively transparent rather than being forced to do so."