Audit&Risk: Innovation the transformation imperative

03 May 2019

“When business environments evolve at the speed of risk, innovative internal auditors must be willing to venture beyond process improvement to envision complete process transformation,” writes Richard F Chambers, president and CEO of IIA Global.

True innovation requires the ability to look beyond the “why?” of current processes, to explore the infinite possibilities of the “why not?”. Should routine controls testing utilise robotics? Should auditors use drones to enhance monitoring of distant work sites? Should the next risk assessment use virtual reality or augmented reality to evaluate “what if” scenarios? Those ideas might have seemed outlandish just a few years ago, but today they are viable options. In the near future, most audit departments might even be expected to provide innovation audits that evaluate their organisations’ capacity to explore and exploit new ideas.

Many internal audit departments are identifying and implementing innovative approaches through significant new investments in data analytics, artificial intelligence, robotics and cognitive technologies, such as machine learning and process automation. However, while tools can make a difference, their mere existence cannot guarantee audit innovation. 

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