Foundations for Transparency Requirements Engineering.

Abstract

[Context & motivation] Transparency is becoming an es- sential requirement for business information systems. Transparency is advocated to inspire trust, increase accountability and reduce corrup- tion. However, it may also lead to negative side effects such as infor- mation overload, bias and unnecessary pressure on stakeholders. [Ques- tion/problem] Despite its distinct characteristics and importance, trans- parency is still a limitedly explored concept in software engineering and information systems literature, and is often fragmented across adjacent concepts such as privacy, secrecy and regulatory requirements. This lim- its its representation level and impedes its management. [Principal ideas/results] In this paper, we propose four facets for transparency and illustrate their usefulness in guiding transparency requirements en- gineering. [Contribution] These facets help clarify the concept of trans- parency and provide foundations for its management in information sys- tems engineering as a distinct notion. Initiatives like the open data move- ment add to the timeliness and potential impact of our contribution.