On July 25, the VI meeting of the INTOSAI Working Group on Big Data (WGBD) was held in the online format. At the beginning of the event, SAI China as the Chair of the working group presented a report on the activities of the Secretariat, the implementation of the work plan and outlined the prospects for international standardization of audit digitalization processes.

The second part of the event was devoted to discussion on the ways and features of using big data analysis in public audit. The participants shared their experience of drawing on data from mobile operators (SAI of Estonia), organization of data analysis, data processing and corporate training (SAI of India). The report of the Accounts Chamber of the Russian Federation discussed the search for a balance between the centralization and decentralization of data analytics in the work of SAIs.

Anastasia Kim, Deputy Head of the Inspectorate for the Audit of National Goals of the Research and Methodology Department, spoke about the evolution of approaches to big data at the Accounts Chamber since 2018, when the tasks of strategic audit based on the capabilities of data analytics and the development of our own analytical competencies and tools were identified as key priorities for SAI Russia. The report also presented a competency model for data analysis, which includes 42 skills and knowledge areas in project management, programming, data processing, data reliability assessment, econometrics, mathematical modeling and machine learning.