In my understanding, it's the invisibility of the data interaction that makes the network transparent. People on the network just see the words on the screen; they don't see their messages getting translated from one application to another or all the different kinds of remote systems and databases transmitting the information from the sender.

That, and the fact that the information flows freely in both directions. There can't be blockages to the connections (like firewalls), so that I can communicate with whoever I want, and then receive an incoming reply without it being bounced back.

The conversation also has to be real--not some corporate b/s that hides a deceitful company policy, like the car salesman's trick of listening from behind a 2-way mirror and coming in with, "tell me how you want to pay, and then I'll say how much it costs."

But I'm still forming my opinion and would like to be further enlightened.

I am still learning the concept (currently reading 'Cluetrain Manifesto') so I find it easier approaching it from a specific question, like (as above) what makes it transparent or how does it apply to / how will it change / ... (Business, Personal, Government...) any of the topics below.
So here are some of the topics that will be covered at the Digital Be-In regarding the Transparent Network.

-open source computing

-personal privacy

-many-to-many publishing (vs. Traditional modelof centralized one-to-many)

-corporate and government transparency

-social networks

-biofeedback interfaces

-rich content access and communications via increasinglyinvisible
technologies.

-biomimicry

-sustainability strategies

-Teilhard’s noosphere

- the ‘innernet’ of collective consciousness (also interpersonal transparency)

- the galactic ecology

- the holographic universe

Other:
Sheldrake’s morphogenetic field, shamanism, psychedelics, remote viewing,
Indra’s web, the Akashic record, clear light, cosmic awareness, universal
love…