The ethics and practicality of data collection and sharing, whether in clinical trials, doctors' performance or a country's defence programme, is a common issue in these connected times.

What should be shared publicly, and with whom, is often contentious, and pharma is by no means alone when it comes to feeling the pressure to open archives and release data.

There certainly seems no escape from trial transparency. For Bad Pharma author Dr Ben Goldacre the industry is following an “inevitable policy trajectory”, he told PME that after the recent European Parliament Committee vote on amending the Clinical Trial Directive the direction of travel “cannot be held back”.

A slightly more nuanced approach can be found in PME magazine, where UCB's Neir Weir says the debate is driven, on both sides, by people who passionately want to do the right thing.

Certainly, we are all aware of the reasons why there is a need for transparency, but it's also becoming clearer and clearer that the issue is a delicate and complex one.

This blog post first appeared as the Editor's comment in PME July/August 2013