The hypothetical case of the contemporary v the establishment: an alternative approach to the topic of digitalising the internal audit function.

There are many updates you can read on what digitalisation means, strategies, examples of digital technologies etc.. One of the common threads is the assumption that chief audit executives (CAEs) are planning to ‘go digital’. Why wouldn’t they? 

Is cost your real barrier? How do you justify your position to colleagues? Has it ever been talked about at the audit committee? There are more important issues after all. Or are there?

What follows are the salient points made during a fictitious court hearing which provides insight into two quite different perspectives.

The case of the contemporary argues for digitalisation. The person who invariably tells you about the book they’d read on the latest thinking about topic ‘x’ or the awesome gadget/upgrade that no-one should possibly live without. Maybe this is you? Maybe you know them?

And then there is the establishment. The person that buys a classic outfit that looks good regardless of fashions, uses technology that best fits their need even if that’s a Nokia 3310 and has been heard using the phrase ‘back in the day’. Do you identify with this?

Nature of the case

After some months of internal debate between two parties, the business concerned decided to seek formal adjudication to bring the matter to a close, thereby bringing the case of the contemporary accusing the establishment of being a technophobe to the mediation court. There was no jury.

Case for the contemporary

As the business world hurtles towards 2030, it is facing new threats as a matter of course, confidently taking risks and grasping the opportunities of new technologies. Internal audit also needs to be doing this.  

Digitalisation is all about moving from analog…