What is transparency?

Now commonly used, what does the word transparency mean and why is it important to auditors? I think one of the best discussions was a paper from the GAO in 2007. Transparency is the public's access to information. With transparency the public can understand and trust government decisions. But without access to information, decisions will be misunderstood and misconstrued. Transparency also shines a light and puts heat on decision makers to grapple with the bigger problems. So the auditor can help provide the public with clear objective information. But, an auditor can also make recommendations that the information always be available, after the audit is completed. And, an auditor can also provide the bigger picture and focus attention on the long term effort needed.