At the end of 2014 Trafigura, one of the world’s leading commodity trading firms and third largest oil trader, announced it will join the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative and disclose oil-related payments.

Also last year, the G20 committed to improving the transparency principles of public and private sectors. Young fashion brand EverLane – a company actively transparent in pricing and production processes through their product labelling and website – increased sales by 200%.

2015 will continue to see the reduction of hiding places for brands, companies and organisations. Self publication, citizen journalism, big data, hacking, the Internet of Things; we are living in a hyper connected world where privacy is not guaranteed, information is captured in fine detail and messages are spread instantaneously.

In this landscape it is much harder to conceal, and in the business world this means it is much harder to make false claims. Brands who actively behave authentically and transparently will be the ones to maintain trust and credibility.

A rising number of consumers are favouring conscientious brands, and apps like GoodGuide are giving them more easily digestible information with which to make their decisions. As it becomes more accepted and easier to be a conscientious consumer, their numbers will continue to increase: everything is pointing in the direction of radical transparency and the future will belong to those who embrace it with open arms.