|
Luís Cracel Viana, Universidade de Lisboa, Institute of Social and Political Sciences, Lisbon, PortugalGustavo Fernandes, Fundaç?o Getúlio Vargas, School of Business Administration, S?o Paulo, Brazil
|
Abstract
|
Digital transformation is a critical factor for the modernization of the public sector. It is essential for innovation and contributes to greater efficiency and effectiveness of public administration. At the same time, it is a crucial tool for improving public management's integrity and governance quality. In the public sector, new technological developments require a government strategy and an adaptation of institutions. That also includes the watchdogs of the government.
Supreme Audit Institutions (SAIs) are independent oversight institutions that must act in the public interest and "ensure that government and public entities are held accountable for their administration and use of public resources" (ISSAI 12). SAIs evaluate whether the government uses public resources economically, efficiently, and effectively. It also checks compliance with legality and financial regularity. That is why they are a fundamental mechanism for good governance and the quality of democracy, promoting transparency and accountability (Bovens et al., 2014; Mulgan, 2014).
We may define digital transformation in SAIs as a process that seeks to improve an entity by triggering significant changes in its characteristics through combinations of information, computing, communication, and connectivity technologies, expecting a profound impact of digital transformation on the audit function (Vial, 2019, p.121; Otia & Bracci, 2022).
In this context, this paper aims to analyze the digital transformation in SAIs, placing itself in the debate on 'digital era governance' (Dunleavy et al., 2006), a paradigm of public governance in which technology is at the centre of governmental processes and decisions. Tan and Crompvoets (2022) recently proposed to understand how new digital technologies are shaping public governance, what they call a new era of digital governance.
In this regard, SAIs face a double challenge: i) how business processes change to include new technologies in the audit process (internal dimension), and ii) how to develop audits of digital transformation initiatives developed by public entities (external dimension). This research will focus on which digital transformation strategies SAIs are developing to guarantee their legitimacy and impact.
In the European Union, as in the rest of the world, SAIs have adopted different institutional models. One of the most important is the Napoleonic model, in which a judicial function is added to the audit function. It is predominant in the countries of southern Europe, encompassing a large set of relevant and heterogeneous countries. In this regard, it is essential to understand how the Napoleonic SAIs (Belgium, France, Greece, Italy, Portugal, and Spain) communicated their digital transformation processes and what objectives they presented for this change.
We select multiple case study design to allow for an intensive comparative study and extensive document analysis through the collection, systematization, research, and discussion of the information available on the institutional websites of each of the SAIs and the strategic reports and activity reports of the last five years (2017-2021).
Our research will add to the literature by identifying the message SAIs share with the stakeholders about digital transformation. Using content analysis, we will uncover the strategies and processes SAIs have been changing to implement digital transformation. In the end, we expect to highlight challenges and possible solutions to increase the quality of democracy through SAIs digital transformation.
|
