On March 17, 2021, Mr. Abdelkader Benmarouf, President of the Algerian Court of Accounts (COA), chaired a meeting of the African Union Board of External Auditors held by videoconference. During the meeting...
Summer 2021
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SAI Philippines Wins First Place in Hackathon BPK Competition
The Commission on Audit (COA), the Supreme Audit Institution (SAI) of the Philippines, won first place at the professional level in the Hackathon BPK Competition—whose theme was...
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GAO Publishes Groundbreaking Framework for AI Accountability
The rapidly evolving pace of AI makes it necessary to establish a framework to independently verify AI systems (even as the technology continues to advance). The global accountability community needs a toolkit to evaluate this ever-changing technology, and, more importantly, organizations that build, purchase, and deploy AI need a framework to understand how AI systems will be evaluated. The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO), recognizing the urgent need for AI governance...
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GAO Hosts Discussion Group on COVID-19 Lessons Learned
On May 25, 2021, Mr. Gene Dodaro, Comptroller General of the United States, led a virtual discussion group on lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic. More than 30 organizations—including INTOSAI organizations and 21 Supreme Audit Institutions (SAIs), donor and civil society organizations, and United Nations organizations and observers—contributed to the dialogue. The group stems from...
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SAI Costa Rica Uses Innovation, Agility to Face the Challenges of COVID-19
Recently, SAI Costa Rica has moved toward an innovative approach—the use of artificial intelligence (AI)—to auditing public procurement of goods and services. The SAI carried out two audits using AI in 2020 and plans to...
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SAI Egypt Participates in Financial Audit of the African Union and Affiliated Institutions
The Accountability State Authority of Egypt (ASA) participated from March 22 to April 23, 2021, in the financial audit of the African Union and affiliated institutions for fiscal year 2020. Egypt has been a permanent member of...
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Decision Graphics: Simple Tools to Improve Audit Decision-making
Making informed planning decisions early in the audit process is key to completing audits in a timely manner. Many teams use historical information to determine how long an audit will take. But every audit and every audit organization is different, so it is impossible to...
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Improving the Effectiveness of Internal Audit Departments Within Public Sector Entities
Over the last five years, agencies in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s public sector have undergone fundamental transformations—including restructuring, implementing governance mechanisms, and activating control requirements—aimed at improving their performance. The General Court of Audit (GCA), the country’s Supreme Audit Institution (SAI), has sought to contribute to these efforts by...
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Quality Considerations in Complex, Non-routine, and High-Impact Audit Engagements
It is commonly held wisdom that every staff member in a Supreme Audit Institution (SAI) is responsible for audit quality, and that SAIs should ensure quality at every stage of the audit process through standard operating procedures. This is certainly true, especially for routine audits. However, in the case of audits that are complex...
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In Memoriam: Yusador Gaye
On July 1, 2021, Yusador Gaye, the Auditor General of the Republic of Liberia, passed away. She had served at the helm of the General Auditing Commission, Liberia’s Supreme Audit Institution (SAI), since 2014. Mrs. Gaye’s calm and unwavering leadership...