Digital Disruption: Positive and
Negative Impact on Internal
Auditing
Helen Anijalg, ESTONIA
Certified Internal Auditor since 2005
July 2019, IIA Global Conference
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a modest
country that
extends beyond
its borders
+ population: 1.3 million
+ area: 45,339 km2
+ currency: Euro
+ member of: EU, NATO, WTO, OECD,
+ ICT sector: 7% of GDP
Finland
Russia
EST
Europe
Latvia
Lithuania
Sweden
Poland
e-tax
board
m-parking
population
registry
x-road
digital
signature
id-card
e-school
id bus
ticket
e-land
registryEHIS i-voting
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005
e-Estonia timeline
e-health
systeme-prescriptions smart grid
ev quick
charging
network
x-road
europe
keyless
signature
infrastructure
e-police
system
mobile-id
2007 2008 2010 2011 2012 2013
e-Estonia timeline
e-residency
data
embassye-reciept
data
embassy stage 2
opening a bank
account online
reporting
3.0
2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
e-Estonia timeline
e-Estonia The smartest digital solutions.
My story nr 1
© Ton
uT
un
nel
Positive effect:
Digital signatures
+ Internal audit files are 100% digital.
+ It is rare to meet paper documents
+ Estonian digital signature cannot be falsified
+ Easier to control procurement processes, contracts,
invoices, etc
+ Easier to discover simple fraud
Digital signatures save time and money
A stack of paper saved each month by 1 million Estonians
300meters
efficient
In Estonia:
+ digital signature saves 2% of GDP per year
+ one of the best tax collectors in the world
+ i-voting 2.5 times cheaper
Audit documentation - digitally signed
Audit reports - digitally signed
Could this be a stack of paper saved by you ?
Digital Disruption: Positive and
Negative Impact on Internal AuditingE-solutions bring transparency.
Audit process has changed a lot.
© T
aan
ielM
alle
us
+ More than two digital interactions a day per Estonian
+ impactful e-governance built on trust and math
e-Estonia The smartest digital solutions.
My story nr 2 – Positive Impact on Internal
Auditing
© Ton
uT
un
nel
electronic IDThe strongest identity.
© e
ston
ian
des
ign
hou
se.e
e
+e-ID, mobile-ID, smart-ID
+travel
+digital signing
+i-voting
+business, banking
+state and healthcare
+public transport
+loyalty card
How much time does it take you to go
voting?
In Estonia it takes 2-5 minutes
© R
enee
Alt
rov
+ 2005 – first in the world
+ 30% vote online
+ votes cast from 116 countries
+ saving over 10,000 working days
ID cardUsed also by internal auditors for digital
signing, voting, authentication, logging in
to different e-services.
Even trendier: mobile-ID
© e
ston
ian
des
ign
hou
se.e
e
exchange
+ 99% of state services are online
+ over 2000 services
+ over 900 connected organizations, databases
+ over 500 million transactions per year
The busiest highway of e-Estonia – X-
Road.
Which are 3
transactions that can
not be done online in
Estonia?
Answer: only getting married
or divorced and selling real
estate cannot be done online.
Yet.
© T
õn
uR
un
nel
Audit process and e-services
ID-card & Mobile-ID
confidentialityDifferent e-services (X-ROAD)
availability
The safest combination.
e-Estonia The smartest digital solutions.
Positive impact:
Databases © Ton
uT
un
nel
ease of auditingSimplest and fastest business environment.
© E
AS
+ most start-ups per capita
+ a few hours to start a company
+ e-taxation, 2018: 97% of population use digital tax delaration
ease of auditingSimplest and fastest audit environment.
© E
AS
In internal auditor’s working life:
+ Quick access to electronic Business Register
+ Only electronic invoices
+ No cash transactions accepted
+ Digital correspondence (digitally signed letters, e-mails,
encrypted channels)
+ Quick exchange of audit data within organisation
New fraud indicators in digital world
Negative Impact on Internal Auditing
Do you have in audit team all necessary IT skills?
Should you outsource IT specialists?
How to discover digital fraud?
Do you know well blockchain technologies?
Digitalization has accelerated the processes – what
is the negative impact of it?
The documents you audit are 100% digital as well
as your audit file. What do you miss?
© T
aan
ielM
alle
us
Internal auditors in Estonia can audit effectively by using
different e-services.
.
.
© Ton
uT
un
nel
E-future has arrived!
My contact:
Helen Anijalg
Roofit Solar Energy
www.roofit.solar
© J
oh
ann
es A
rro
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