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- Abdulqader Obaid Ali: Innovation is a vital necessity to auditing
- Dr Saeed Al Dhaheri: The UAE is one of the leading countries in combatting fraud and corruption
- Over 200 chief audit executives from more than 30 countries attend Dubai conference
Dubai, UAE: The UAE has come a long way in enhancing governance and making Artificial Intelligence and Smart solutions a key part of work and economic activities, including the internal auditing sector.
This has been stated by an international expert, Richard F. Chambers, who pointed out that the 7th Chief Audit Executive Conference, hosted in Dubai from December 12 to 13, has touched on a number of highly-relevant topics highlighting the importance of internal auditing and role it plays in the success of macroeconomics in general and organisations in particular.
Richard F. Chambers, IIA Global CEO, was delivering a keynote address at the opening day of the fully-interactive “Smart Conference” held under the theme of “Internal Audit in the Matrix of the Digital World”. It was attended by more than 200 chief audit executives from more than 30 countries.
In his speech, he highlighted the importance of the environment in which the internal auditor works and the set of values that must be adopted in an auditor’s professional career, including transparency, reliability, trust, integrity, analysis capabilities and a future vision for global economy developments.
He likened the profession of internal auditing to football, where an auditor must be a fair referee in terms of not favouring a team against the other, commitment to prevent fraud and abide by applicable laws, and showing the red card in cases of fraud and other incidents in violation of the laws.
Chambers remarked: “An auditor should follow and transparently implement the set of values, laws and systems, and should focus on results and the delivery of transparent and timely reports to contribute to effecting a radical change in the life cycle of their organisations. “
“Auditors should have a positive curiosity to explore things and a ask lot of questions to produce factual reports, in addition to possessing an open mentality and contributing not only to monitoring the current state of their organisations, but also to what can happen in the future."
He added: “A good example can be found in weather reports, where people pay no attention to weather conditions the previous day, but to forecasted weather during the coming days with a view to act accordingly.”
The CEO of IIA Global concluded his lecture by presenting some pieces of advice to the industry professionals based on his extensive experience: “There are three important issues for any auditor. These are: adequate command of the industry, activities and relevant technology to auditors’ own organisations; logical approach based on available data and information away from any emotional influences; and the capability to manage crises and continual training, and follow up the latest developments related to internal auditing.”
Strategic Role
On his part, Abdulqader Obaid Ali, Chairman, UAE Internal Auditors Association (UAE-IAA), emphasised the importance of internal auditing to the life cycle of public and private organisations and its strategic role in upgrading their performance.
He pointed out that the coming period will witness an increasing introduction of technology and smart solutions in the service of the future of internal auditing around the world.
In his welcome speech with which Obaid opened the conference, he announced that Dubai will host the International Internal Audit Conference under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of UAE and Ruler of Dubai, from May 6 to 9 in 2018.
He also commended the efforts of UAE Internal Auditors Association (UAE-IAA) to host this this largest high-profile business conference in cooperation and coordination with its strategic partners.
Abdulqader expressed his deep appreciation to the sponsors of the 7th Chief Audit Executive Conference and their great role in achieving its targeted objectives. He touched upon the huge business benefits organisations can only reap if they are fully equipped to deal with the numerous challenges presented by digital transformation, where internal auditing plays a critical role in ensuring this success.
His Excellency Sultan Bin Saeed Al Mansoori, UAE Minister of Economy and Patron of the conference, has earlier in a message, pointed out that auditing is playing a vital role in the success of organisations across the UAE, especially as the economy strides toward transforming to a ‘smart economy’.
He added that the UAE has always been on the forefront in adopting the latest and best technology, policies and processes in every area and now we see it is actively pursuing its move to stay 10 times ahead of others, and this brings in bigger challenges for auditors.
US$3.5 Trillion Corruption Cost Worldwide
Guest speaker, Saeed Al Dhaheri, Chairman of Smartworld, pointed out that global statistics estimate the amount of corruption and bribery in the world at about US$3.5 trillion dollars annually, equivalent to five per cent of the world GDP.
He stressed that Artificial Intelligence can play an effective role in reducing such harmful practices, especially the "deep learning" technique through which data is analysed and the processes involved in the different kinds of fraud are identified.
He pointed out that internal auditors play a key role in ensuring corporate compliance to value-added tax, where their main role is to ensure the application of governance concepts and subsequently auditing the processes related to the new tax, indicating the important role of artificial intelligence in automating tax compliance processes and ensuring compliance of companies’ internal process to tax requirements.
UAE in the Forefront in Combatting Fraud and Corruption
Al Dhaheri underlined the fact that the UAE is amongst the leading countries when it comes to combatting fraud and corruption, and it occupies the first rank in the region in the area of combatting bribery and corruption according to Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index.
He said that the UAE has had pioneering experiences in using Artificial Intelligence techniques such as Rashid Service through which government services are delivered using interaction and voice chat, as well as the use by Abu Dhabi Police of ‘Smart glasses’ to identify criminals, and the use by Dubai Police of Smart robots in the security field, noting that the UAE has developed a comprehensive strategy to use modern technologies in several sectors, including transport, health, space, communication and others.
Al Dhaheri pointed out the important role Artificial Intelligence techniques can play in enabling internal auditors to effective perform their duties in their respective companies. He explained that using these techniques, internal auditors can increase their productivity by reducing the time frame for conducting the internal audit process, improve its quality, and finally repeat it on a regular basis (monthly) rather than during relatively long financial periods.
He concluded that the function of internal auditors in companies will change with the application of the concept of the Fourth Industrial Revolution when they must acquire the skills and competencies required to focus on solving complex problems as well as focusing on the skills of innovation and thinking in times of crisis.
Honouring Best Practices
During the conference, UAE-IAA announced the winners of Internal Auditing Best Practices Award. Abdulqader Obaid Ali, Chairman, UAE Internal Auditors Association, and Richard F. Chambers, IIA Global CEO, honoured the distinguished internal auditing departments that exerted more efforts to implement best practices and standards to ensure effective and efficient performance in comparison to other organisations.
Winners of the Best Practice Award in Internal Audit are: DP World, Etisalat, RTA, Dubai Aviation City Corporation (DACC) and Mashreq Bank. The winners of the Quality Assessment Award included Oman Insurance Company, Dubai Silicon Oasis Authority, Abu Dhabi Retirement Pension and Benefits Fund and the General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs.
Important Issues
On its first day, the conference touched on important issues such as VAT Implementation Audit, Social Media Governance and Demystifying Artificial Intelligence and Digital Forensics.
Abdulqader Obaid Ali stressed that the UAE is leading the rest of the region in setting exemplary standards for internal auditing, thanks to Smart initiatives launched by the government.
The recently launched UAE’s Strategy for the Fourth Industrial Revolution will further strengthen the UAE’s position as a global hub for the Fourth Industrial Revolution and increase its contribution to the national economy by means of advancing innovation and future technologies.
The ‘Smart Dubai’ 2021 initiative, launched by His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of the Dubai Executive Council, will lead to fully paperless transactions by the Dubai government by 2021.
These and numerous other initiatives are ushering in a wave of rapid transformation in the way businesses are being conducted, and organisations are keen on effectively handling and making the most of the Digital Era.
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