* Comptroller and Auditor General of India and Chairman, INTOSAI Standing Committee on EDP Audit.
We have met now to take stock of the events of the last 3 days. The Symposium on "Introducing and Applying New Technology in an SAI" is INTOSAI's response to the technology challenge by giving participants an opportunity to share information and experiences with one another and to learn from experts in the field. This has indeed laid the foundation for future international efforts to integrate Information Technology into the audit community.
The Symposium was expected to provide: (1) information about technology relevant to the audit office, (2) information about computer systems audit methodologies, and (3) information to aid the EDP Audit Committee in formulating its future direction.
Let us briefly turn to the Symposium format to see how these objectives were pursued. As expected, the keynote address, concurrent sessions, technology exposition, software exchange, and technology tour have exposed the participants comprehensively to the theoretical and practical aspects of information technology and its use in SAIs.
In his key-note address, Mr.Mike Brown presented how an audit office could be modernized with the aid of information technology. We must however note that, except for the translation of English Reports into other INTOSAI languages, the technologies that he talked about already exist. How they will or can be harnessed by and integrated into an SAI will obviously depend on a number of factors which differ from country to country. The discussions following the key-note address and the subsequent panel discussion brought out clearly that each SAI will have to evolve its own approach, suited to its environment, needs and purse. However, there is no need for each one of us to reinvent the wheel or make the mistakes that others already have. We can all learn from one another's experiences and the Symposium has truly brought us together in taking this first step.
The panel discussion involving Netherlands, Gambia and Mexico, representative of INTOSAI, brought out important conclusions:
The concurrent sessions were derived from the three main themes that emerged with clarity in the member nation survey that was conducted by GAO before planning the Symposium - Automating the Audit Office, Developments in CAATs and Methods of Auditing Computer Systems. I shall revert to these after briefly summing up the other important events in the symposium.
We have witnessed a fascinating technology exposition. Seeing is believing. That's what the technology exposition has achieved. I am sure all of you have benefited richly from the demonstrations of technology applied to audit problems and situations. Those who already have similar applications back home would have had an opportunity to assess them in the light of other SAIs efforts and for those who are still grappling with the problems of introducing this technology, this exposition would give ideas, and perhaps the motivation, to come to terms with their problems. Computer Technology is perhaps widely accessible but such applied audit technology is rarely on display. I am sure I will be echoing the sentiments of most of the delegates that this has been a very useful and thoughtful addition to the Symposium.
If the technology exposition enabled you to see and believe, the software exchange has made it possible to extend atleast a part of the experience to others back home. The readiness of SAIs to share their software and expertise with others marks a major step forward in promoting an international effort in integrating Information Technology into the audit community. We should applaud the SAIs who have set the tone for this very tangible exchange.
Last but not the least, the technology tour has provided us lighter moments even as it enabled us to have a good look at the technologies that are likely to become freely available in due course. May be they are not relevant to some of us immediately but they do open our minds to the possibilities that exist!
Let me take you back briefly to the objectives of this symposium. These were to provide:
Let us now see how the concurrent sessions contributed to these. A number of sessions provided useful information about audit-related technologies - Strategic Use of technology, Local Area Networks, Expert Systems, Text-retrieval, Electronic mail, Electronic briefcase, Buyer's Guide to PC-based audit software and Funders' panel. These sessions provided information about what you need, where to get it and, very importantly, how to get others to pay for it if you can't.
As a logical follow-up, the symposium also addressed the very important issue of how to introduce Information Technology and manage the change. The experiences of SAIs who have been through this process should be useful lessons to the newer entrants to this field. Three sub-themes contributed to this admirably:
Several sessions provided information about methodologies for auditing computer-based systems and EDP support for auditing - Introduction to technical auditing, Introduction to New Systems Development Reviews, Computer Security Risk Methodology, CAATs and Using PCs to audit mainframe information systems.
Finally, let me turn to the symposium's objective of facilitating the work of the newly constituted EDP Audit Committee. Has the symposium done this? Well, let us take a quick look at the objectives of the Committee:
"The Committee will support SAIs in developing their knowledge and skills in the use and audit of information technology by providing information and facilities for exchange of experiences, and encouraging bilateral and regional cooperation."
It is quite obvious that the Symposium has provided a lot of information and facilitated sharing of experiences. To look more closely at what the committee is planning to do and how this symposium has helped, we have to relate them to the Committee's three main areas of operation:
The three interest areas in the symposium have addressed most of the issues relating to two of these three areas of operation of the Committee viz. Auditing EDP-based accounting systems and Use of EDP in the SAI. The Committee has already noted that the third area viz. Performance Audit of use of EDP systems is of immediate relevance only to SAIs whose auditees have advanced levels of computing and is therefore not an immediate concern. The presentations and the discussions in these concurrent sessions have highlighted the issues and the concerns of several SAIs. Thanks to this symposium, the Committee will be able to formulate its work plans with sharper focus and SAIs, in turn, will be able to respond to the Committee's surveys with a greater awareness and comprehension of the technologies and issues involved.
I have taken a fair amount of time in summarizing the results of this symposium but it was inevitable considering the quantum and quality of the achievements of this symposium. Before I conclude, I would like to thank all those who were responsible for organizing this symposium and the experts who shared their knowledge with us.
| Each SAI has to evolve its own strategy, depending upon its environment, capabilities and resources, to make optimal use of the opportunity offered by information technology. In this, it will certainly benefit by interacting with other SAIs. INTOSAI and its regional working groups ideally make for exchange of ideas and experiences. "Computerisation and computer audit in SAIs" has naturally been the topic of discussions in the regional and international fora of SAIs in the recent past. INTOSAI in collaboration with the United Nations and INTOSAI Development Initiative in collaboration with INTOSAI regional working groups have organized workshops and seminars. Individual SAIs have also been organizing training programmes in this field for the benefit of other SAIs However, it is for the first time a symposium of this kind has been planned ensuring such wide participation and providing such varied opportunities. |