Today's Edition
JUMA AL NUAIMI (ABU DHABI) - The Supreme Audit Institution (SAI) of the UAE announced the launch of the fourth annual meeting of the International Organisation of Supreme Audit Institutions (INTOSAI) Working Group on Impact of Science and Technology on Auditing (WGISTA) in Abu Dhabi from November 6-7.
Chaired and hosted by the SAI of the UAE, in collaboration with INTOSAI, the sessions of the group delve into the future of auditing and financial accounting, discussing how supreme audit institutions around the world can benefit from technological advancements to protect public funds in their countries, as well as to discover and address violations.
On this occasion, the SAI spokesperson emphasised in his welcoming speech that Monday’s meeting aimed to achieve a shared goal: the preservation of public funds.
He stressed the need to keep pace with technological innovations to ensure the delivery of audit methodologies that are contemporary and that foresee future challenges. The spokesperson added that “the commitment of the Working Group on the Impact of Science and Technology on Oversight goes beyond simply adapting to current changes; it is also about anticipating and preparing in advance to deal with them”.
Gene Dodaro, the vice-chair of the group and Comptroller General of the United States Government Accountability Office (GAO), spoke about the role this group plays in enhancing the auditing process in the public sector, with the application of modern technologies such as artificial intelligence and cloud computing.
He highlighted the successes achieved and the aspirations for more in the future. Financial Oversight Sumaya Al Hammadi, a representative member for the UAE in the Working Group on the Impact of Science and Technology on Oversight and Financial Accountability, discussed how supreme audit institutions worldwide could benefit from technological progress to protect public funds in their countries.
She also highlighted the fight against illegal practices to achieve a common goal: preserving public funds, while pointing out that this dynamic sector is continuously evolving in terms of technology and modern techniques.
Automation The event covered a variety of topics including practical case reviews such as the future leadership of the WGISTA and expected developments, environmental scanning to determine the supreme audit institution’s capabilities to keep up with emerging technologies and the auditability in the public sector, the impact of automation and artificial intelligence, as well as the discussion of using image processing software and drones to provide analytical insights during auditing, along with many other related topics.
