Yes! This is the foundation of transparency.

Publicly disclosed information garners trust from your customers and your critics.

Open Supply Hub has aggregated the apparel supply chain lists which have been disclosed by brands and other creditable providers. It is very easy to access, there is no need to register or login.

We understand that it is scary to disclose information.

But it is important that the data is not only disclosed to a private group. We should also make sure that the users are able to access the information easily.

Listen to what happened when apparel brands decided to disclose their supply chains. See interviews here.

Sorry, it’s difficult to enable users to take any action, if the information is anonymous.

For example, a news report or other report may say “60 % of factories had excessive overtime, and  80% were paying less than the minimum wage” without knowing which factories have such poor performance, brands, civil society and governments cannot take actions.

Hooray! That’s right.

Users can act on the information when there are names linked to a specific entity.

Violation Tracker provides easy access to documentation on legal cases in which corporations have been involved.

Good answer!

With sufficient granularity, decision makers are able to take action, and the disclosed entities can also make improvements based on the specific data.

An initiative named Gajimu in Indonesia has started to disclose very specific information about working conditions of factories in Indonesia. Unions in these factories use the information to negotiate for improvements.

In less than 2 years, 25 factories with over 35,000 workers enjoy better working conditions because of this initiative.

Visit Gajimu Factory Pages

Company ratings are often unspecific.

For example, a company may be rated as bronze, silver or gold, but without any details, it is difficult for actors to request specific improvements.

You got it right!

Regularly updated data allow changes to be shown over time. Fashion Revolution has been releasing its Fashion Transparency Index annually since 2017.

Fashion Revolution has linked brand names with their level of transparency. Many brands have been motivated to improve their ratings.

One-time disclosure is good, but not good enough.

Having regular, updated information gives you the opportunity to get credit for improvement. 

Annual reports are a good reflection tool for the organisation. Brands sometimes believe that their annual reports are a type of transparency. 

When information is not standardised, it can create confusion. The problem is that a lack of standardisation makes it impossible to compare one brand’s report with another.

You’ve got it right!

Comparable data allow users to compare different entities more easily, it also allows the disclosed entities to compare themselves among the peers.

In addition, the disclosure enables observers to confirm the accuracy.

WikiRate’s report: Envisioning an Integrated and Open Labor Data Ecosystem guides organisations on how to make data interconnected, which allows collaboration among stakeholders and avoids duplication of work.

Starting small may be ok, but without specific data, brands, suppliers, consumers or workers may find it difficult to make informed decisions.

Comprehensive and larger data set enables user to make decisions.

Food labels are one of the most successful transparency mechanisms. In some countries, all the packaged foods are required by law to have nutrition information. Consumers are allowed to choose which brand to purchase among similar food, based on the nutritional information.