The MIA Public Sector Internal Audit Conference focuses on fighting fraud and technology adoption for internal auditors in the public sector.
By Accountants Today Editorial Team
Public servants are under intense scrutiny under the new regime that is intent on stamping out corruption and restoring good governance and public confidence. Public sector internal auditors play a key role in providing assurance on public funds and public sector governance.
The MIA Public Sector Internal Audit Conference is specially designed to upskill public sector internal auditors to meet greater demands under the new government. The Conference opens with a broad analysis of policies and initiatives taken by the government to implement and enforce the principles of Competency, Accountability & Transparency (CAT) and how these will affect public sector internal auditors in their duties of providing assurance on the stewardship of the public coffers.
A key focus for the Conference is on fraud in the public sector and the role of the internal auditor. The new government is working diligently to repair and restore Malaysia’s reputation, tarnished by corruption scandals labelled ‘kleptocracy at its worst’ by the US Attorney General Jeff Sessions. The Conference will dive deeper into the effective controls, policies and practices that can be put in place by alert public sector internal auditors to manage fraud risks.
Technology can provide amazing tools to assist with fraud management, and overall to enhance public sector internal audit effectiveness. For instance, analytics lets auditors analyse all items in populations as opposed to just sampling. While there are many benefits, you must contend with challenges such as data integration and upskilling in data science and analytics. There is also the not-so-small matter of finding the budget and convincing management and those charged with governance that AI is the future for internal audit.
To achieve better outcomes for audit and public sector governance, internal auditors are encouraged to work closely with their external auditors. How can the interaction and relationship between internal and external auditors in the public sector be effectively improved?
Finally, the Conference ends on a high note when our special guest, Tan Sri Dato’ Setia Haji Ambrin Buang, Chairman, Special Investigation Committee on Procurement, Governance & Finance will speak about the Committee, Public Procurement and the Role of Internal Auditors in this not to be missed session.
The MIA Public Sector Internal Audit Conference will be held at the Connexion Conference & Event Centre @The Vertical, Bangsar South, Kuala Lumpur on 13 September 2018 (Thursday).
