Priding itself upon its transparency, computer giant Dell is pre-annoucing that by mid 2009 it will disclose 95% of its suppliers in the next next corporate responsibility report.

As Dell puts it, disclosing a list of its suppliers will be done in response to a request of a number of stakeholders around the globe. Dell has “worked to put the business and legal tools in place to make this possible.” “We will include more than 95 percent of our suppliers as measured by our spend”, says Dell.

Most likely, the list will only include first tier suppliers, although this is not made explicit. According to GoodElectronics, however, true transparency consists of more than a mere list of first tier suppliers. It would be to Dell’s credit if full disclosure would be given on all its suppliers and its complex supply chains, down to the mining of metals used in its products. GoodElectronics is calling upon Dell to take transparency further, setting an example for its competitors, HP and Fujitsu Siemens in particular.