Some legal professionals interpret the principle to mean that information must be “open and available”; however, more accurately, it refers to “the processes and controls” surrounding the organization's information, that “must be open and available.” In addition, it also can be interpreted to mean that the “policies and procedures regarding information creation, use, and disposition must be well documented and enforced”, per the article.
When there is a breakdown in an organization's information P/P, efforts regarding governance are disconcerted and inefficient; the right hand doesn't know what the left hand is doing, as it were. As a result, discovery and production of data becomes more difficult, and integrity breaks down, along with communication.
To achieve viable transparency, there must be collaboration and agreement among IT, legal, compliance, and records management departments in creating, enforcing and monitoring effective, timely policies and procedures. There must also be an ongoing effort to educate users, and to bridge the gap between information governance, and access, two concepts which are often at odds with one another.
Established in 1955, “ARMA International is a not-for-profit professional association and the authority on managing records and information - paper and electronic,” according to arma.org. It's estimated 11,000 members include records managers, archivists, corporate librarians, legal professionals, IT managers, consultants, and educators, according to additional information at the association's website.
