Quest For Transparency Research Articles

Cracking black-box models: Revealing hidden machine learning techniques behind their predictions

The quest for transparency in black-box models has gained significant momentum in recent years. In particular, discovering the underlying machine learning technique type (or model family) from the performance of a black-box model is a real important problem both for better understanding its behaviour and for developing strategies to attack it by exploiting the weaknesses intrinsic to the learning technique. In this paper, we tackle the challenging task of identifying which kind of machine learning model is behind the predictions when we interact with a black-box model. Our innovative method involves systematically querying a black-box model (oracle) to label an artificially generated dataset, which is then used to train different surrogate models using machine learning techniques from different families (each one trying to partially approximate the oracle’s behaviour). We present two approaches based on similarity measures, one selecting the most similar family and the other using a conveniently constructed meta-model. In both cases, we use both crisp and soft classifiers and their corresponding similarity metrics. By experimentally comparing all these methods, we gain valuable insights into the explanatory and predictive capabilities of our model family concept. This provides a deeper understanding of the black-box models and increases their transparency and interpretability, paving the way for more effective decision making.

Political Leadership and Public Accountability in Post-colonial Nigeria

In the quest for transparency and accountability in the public sector, several political administrations have initiated public sector reforms to promote accountability and transparency in Nigeria. The paper investigates the impact of political leadership on political accountability and fiscal accountability in Nigeria. It also explains why the problem of lack of accountability has thrived despite the numerous reforms which have been introduced to abate it. Anchored in a documentary/historical research design, the paper observed that the problem of lack of accountability thrives because of legal lapses, weakness of civil society organizations, political patronage and the principle of possessive individualism/primitive capital accumulation that holds the country’s elites are embroiled in. The paper recommends policy learning, adherence to the principles of the constitution and constitutionalism, civil society advocacy, and recall to engender accountability in the Nigerian public sector.

Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative: Locomotive for Transparency in the Cameroon Extractive Industry, 2005-2015

Rents from the extractive sector usually generate income and facilitate the development of States. However, the reverse is true as some countries sanctified with extractive natural resources are often inundated with poverty, low economic growth and conflicts. This has been triggered by the nonexistence of transparency in the management of natural resource wealth by governments. It is because of these setbacks that the Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative (EITI) was created with the intentions of ensuring transparency among member States. Cameroon’s membership and quest for transparency and compliance to EITI Rules between 2005 and 2015 was not an easy ride as it faced some hurdles. Though accepted as Candidate Country in 2007, her inability to institute transparency in the sector made it impossible for her to attain Compliance Status, three years after, as stipulated by EITI regulations. She was again retained as Candidate in 2013 and the satisfactory implementation of EITI Rules between 2013 and 2015 elevated her to the position of Compliant Country even though some adjustments were postulated by EITI. It is hoped that the pitfalls recorded by Cameroon in the EITI processes can serve as lessons to aspiring candidates in the search for compliance within EITI. Besides, efforts made by Cameroon through the EITI processes can also be adopted or extended to other sectors of the economy in order to boost transparency which is perilous in the country.

Collective Management of Copyright in Greece After the Implementation of Directive 2014/26/EU

Abstract The Collective Management Law (L. 4481/17) transposed Directive 2014/26/EU into national law, and also set a voluminous legal framework on collective management with intensive state intervention. This placed Greece’s collective management organisations (CMOs) in a less favourable operating condition compared with those in other Member States. The implementation procedure in Greece plunged the music market into crisis, and showed that many national CMOs were unprepared to adapt to the new burdensome administrative measures and overloaded the existing competent authority with a variety of monitoring and supervisory tasks. The challenge for legislative initiatives and supervisory mechanisms remains to strike a balance between the quest for transparency and accountability and the viability of smaller and weaker CMOs. This article aims to give a short survey of the new legal framework on collective management in relation to the current day-to-day situation and the case law.

Redefining land’s investability: towards a neo-nationalization of resources in Australia?

ABSTRACT Between 2010 and 2015, the Australian government revised its legal regime for foreign investment in Australian farmland. As part of a broader public debate surrounding what some considered to be the ‘selling out’ of Australian farmland to foreigners, this revision has been a contentious political process revolving around Australia’s ‘national interest’ and a recurring quest for transparency regarding the governmental screening process of foreign investments in Australian land. By examining the governmental debate surrounding the appropriate treatment of land within the country’s legal framework, this paper first reveals the endogenous role of the state in redefining what we term the ‘investability’ of land – the multidimensional elements that shape investment parameters and their assessment by stakeholders. Second, we argue that these debates show a clear reinvigoration of the national significance of land, which in turn challenges Australia’s longstanding political position that being ‘open for business’ is best for its national interests. This paper demonstrates the frictions that emerged as a neoliberal governance model – responding to foreign interests in land – became infused with elements of resource nationalism. We suggest that this conflation of neoliberalism and resource nationalism can be interpreted as a ‘neo-nationalization’ of resources.

Editorial: The Quest for Transparency and Community Driven Learning

Editorial: The Quest for Transparency and Community Driven Learning

The Dutch Royal Family in the spotlight. A framing analysis of newspapers de Volkskrant and Trouw on the quest for transparency regarding the Royal Family

This paper analyses how Dutch newspapers Trouw and de Volkskrant frame the issue of transparency regarding the Dutch Royal Family. Three mutually exclusive frames have been reconstructed, which were used by the media under scrutiny by means of a qualitative, inductive content analysis. The motives, which are included in these frames, may best be coined in the terms of progressive, conservative and pragmatic. The written press has, by means of this ‘framing’, pushed the transparency debate in various directions during the last fifteen years.

A major disappointment: The quest for transparency among Spanish municipalities online

Abstract

Sunshine spreading across the Atlantic and over Europe

The quest for transparency in the relationships between life sciences companies and healthcare professionals is quickly becoming a global movement. Reporting requirements for financial interactions have been prevalent in the United States for many years, but the movement is spreading throughout the world to places like Japan, Australia, and Europe. In France, the government passed a law that imposes burdensome reporting requirements. Industry groups across Europe, most notably the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations, are acting aggressively to try to forestall more government laws by adopting industry-developed disclosure systems. These activities will affect many different segments of the European healthcare system.

Tissue Clearing for Optical Anatomy

Quest for transparency: Detailed optical imaging of complex biological entities remains an unmet goal mainly because of the light scattering of biological tissue. A new approach to tissue clearing termed CLARITY is getting us closer to an anatomical view of thick tissues and entire organs with cellular resolution.

The Quest for Transparency and Accountability: Communicating Responsibly to Stakeholders in Crises

As organizations around the world experience crises, they are finding it necessary to craft messages that speak to a more global audience in order to renegotiate social legitimacy by demonstrating ethical leadership in a more global environment. This paper aims at investigating two crisis cases across international borders, including BP’s (formerly British Petroleum) massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and Indian-based Satyam Computer Services’ near-collapse as a result of corporate fraud. In both cases, crisis response demonstrated a lack of sensitivity to stakeholders, a lack of transparency, and a lack of strategic communication. In this study, we examine the crisis response of company officials in the aftermath of events that had both national and global effects. From the analysis, three general themes emerge: 1) issues of blame and accountability, 2) issue of transparency, and 3) success or failure in crisis response. The cases point to the need for organizational leaders to establish a clear line of communication with stakeholders, so they are better equipped to move beyond the crisis situation. Findings demonstrate that the more we know about how companies translate their role as corporate citizens, particularly in the face of crises, the better we are to determine standards for practice that help to rebuild image and restore legitimacy.

Citizens’ Participation in Urban Governance: Quest for Transparency and Accountability

Growing urbanization in India has not only boosted the country’s economy but also presented complex governance challenges that need to be resolved to harness economic opportunities associated with urbanization. One of such challenges is decentralized urban governance where citizens need to have a stake in deciding on how cities should be managed. Experiences implicate that in the view of growing urbanization in the country, the structures of citizen participation provided under the 74th Constitutional Amendment Act are failing in insuring effective citizen participation. The paper, therefore calls for a rethinking in this regard, and discusses experiences of successful citizen participation in urban governance and learning of such experiences. [Formula: see text]

All-Optical Networking—Evolution, Benefits, Challenges, and Future Vision

While all-optical networking had its origins in the research community a quarter of a century ago, the realization of the vision has not had a straight trajectory. The original goal of the all-optical network was based on keeping the data signals entirely in the optical domain from source to destination to eliminate the so-called electronic bottleneck, and to allow arbitrary signal formats, bitrates, and protocols to be transported. The latter property is referred to as transparency. When all-optical networks were finally commercialized around the turn of the century, however, a modified reality emerged; the quest for transparency was replaced by the more pragmatic objective of reducing the network cost and energy consumption. Moreover, especially for networks of large geographical extent, electronics were still present at some (relatively few) points along the data path, for signal regeneration and traffic grooming. This modified vision captures the state of today's networks, though terms like all-optical and transparent are still used to describe this technology. However, continued advancements are bringing back some aspects of the original transparency vision. In this paper, we review the evolution of all-optical networking, from the early vision to its present vibrant state, which was made possible by great advances in optical transmission and all-optical switching technologies. We describe the numerous benefits afforded by the technology, and its relative merits and drawbacks compared to competing technologies, sometimes referred to as opaque. We also discuss the remaining challenges and future directions of all-optical networking. While all-optical solutions permeate today's access, metro, and core networks, this paper focuses on the core.

Consumer-friendly DRM: the quest for transparency and interoperability in a single European information space (Part 2)

Love it or hate it, Digital Rights Management (DRM) is here to stay. The European Commission has committed to changing the DRM landscape in its quest for the development of what has been coined the 'fifth freedom' of the single market: the free movement of knowledge and innovation. Many suggest that DRM should be differentiated from 'copy protection mechanisms' which only attempt to prohibit unauthorised copies of media or files, and also from 'Technical Protection Measures' (TPMs) which control and/or restrict the access of digital media content on digital devices with such technologies installed. DRM, on the other hand, controls the usage of content in a more detailed fashion, as DRM systems can determine what can and cannot be done with and to a digital copyright work in single instances. From a legal perspective, the nomenclature used in the European Union (EU) laws and surrounding discussion papers which govern the rules relating to DRM systems are by way of reference to TPMs and copy protections, and this paper will refer to these terms also. This is Part 2 of this article.

Consumer-friendly DRM: the quest for transparency and interoperability in a single European information space (Part 1)

Love it or hate it, Digital Rights Management (DRM) is here to stay. The European Commission has committed to changing the DRM landscape in its quest for the development of what has been coined the 'fifth freedom' of the single market: the free movement of knowledge and innovation. Many suggest that DRM should be differentiated from 'copy protection mechanisms' which only attempt to prohibit unauthorised copies of media or files, and also from 'technical protection measures' (TPMs) which control and/or restrict the access of digital media content on digital devices with such technologies installed. DRM, on the other hand, controls the usage of content in a more detailed fashion, as DRM systems can determine what can and cannot be done with and to a digital copyright work in single instances. From a legal perspective, the nomenclature used in the European Union (EU) laws and surrounding discussion papers which govern the rules relating to DRM systems are by way of reference to TPMs and copy protections, and this paper will refer to these terms also. This will be a two-part article.

Transparency in local government: antipodean initiatives

Over the last decade, significant accounting reforms have been considered by a wide range of state and local governments throughout the world. Few countries have undertaken such extensive reform of their public sector, or of their public sector accounting practices as an integral part of those reforms, as New Zealand. While accounting reforms are more well known, the reforms at local government have been equally dramatic, the most recent being the introduction in 1998 of a long term financial planning regime under the Local Government Amendment (No. 3) Act 1996. This paper examines the factors leading up to the legislation, describes the requirements of the new regime, identifies the accounting and related issues which have arisen and concludes with some lessons which other countries may wish to consider in their own quest for transparency and accountability.

Transparency in local government: antipodean initiatives

Over the last decade, significant accounting reforms have been considered by a wide range of state and local governments throughout the world. Few countries have undertaken such extensive reform of their public sector, or of their public sector accounting practices as an integral part of those reforms, as New Zealand. While the central government accounting reforms are more well known, the reforms at local government have been equally dramatic, the most recent being the introduction in 1998 of a long-term financial planning regime under the Local Government Amendment (No. 3) Act 1996. This paper examines the factors leading up to the legislation, describes the requirements of the new regime, identifies the accounting and related issues which have arisen and concludes with some lessons which other countries may wish to consider in their own quest for transparency and accountability.

Unidroit's Work on Modernising the Distribution System for Goods and Services: the Quest for Transparency in Franchising (Abstract)

Unidroit's Work on Modernising the Distribution System for Goods and Services: the Quest for Transparency in Franchising (Abstract)

Quest for transparency in plastination

Quest for transparency in plastination

Panopticism and Publicity: Bentham's Quest for Transparency

Panopticism and Publicity: Bentham's Quest for Transparency