Thanks to ever-advancing technology, information is now readily available in almost every shape and form to enable transparency and accountability to function to their full effectiveness. IT makes possible the processing and transformation of huge quantities of complex data and information at a relative low cost. It is forcing standardisation of objectives, measurement, processes, and benchmarks so that units of operations can be monitored and controlled more quickly and efficiently. Simple hash-totals, for example, ensure accounting consistency. Standardization of accounting reporting formats enable performance to be monitored functionally, and across time and geography.
Technology helps better risk management through the use of sophisticated risk models.
At the same time, information technology has altered profoundly the relationship between shareholders, the company, intermediaries, and the public. Companies are forced to be more open in order to reach to the global market. Data availability through the Internet ensures that shareholders have better and faster information to hold their corporate directors and managers more accountable for their action. Through technology, no board of directors can have an excuse that they do not have access to the right information. Cyberspace, however, transcends geographical boundaries and hence geographical governance.