Computers were first introduced across the Queensland public sector in the 1960’s, paving the way for a new age of opportunities powered by data and analytics. Since then, QAO has been uniquely positioned to witness the emerging use of new technologies across the sector and introduced them to our own work.
Our journey began with the acquisition of a HP3000 mini-computer in 1986 and today we are continuing to acknowledge and explore the value technology can bring to how we deliver our assurance services.
The formation of a dedicated Data and Analytics team in 2015 reflected the important role we saw that data could play in the delivery of efficient and effective audits. The 2015 team consolidated the existing talent already working in these areas across the office, creating a focus that enabled it to become a key part of our business strategy.
Creating space for better data insights through innovation
Ten years on and QAO continues to evolve the way we access and use client data including through secure data pipelines. This work helps ensure our auditors can focus on delivering knowledge and insights to our clients.
By leveraging technology, we can automate our work and work with larger data sets that historically were hard to process at scale. Here are a few examples of this:
- Dashboards which integrate with our audit methodology to answer key questions that an auditor needs to understand on their audit. This can include understanding where greatest audit risk exists in the organisation; or achieving confidence over the accuracy of account balances like revenue.
- Analysis using advanced analytic techniques that inform financial audits on specific areas of risk such as appropriate claims of overtime and allowances; or using text-based techniques to better classify student bullying incidents as cyberbullying to enhance insights on a performance audit.
New technologies like generative artificial intelligence provide new analysis opportunities and make analysis techniques accessible to staff – benefits that were not previously possible. We’re excited about the next 10 years and beyond.
Principles to consider in your own journey
There are some key principles that have consistently held true over the course of our journey and which will continue to be relevant into the future. These are well worth considering as you continue your entity’s data and emerging technology journey:
| Treat new technology as an opportunity to reimagine work | New technologies often enable you to perform your work in ways that were not previously possible. If you just replicate what you are doing today, you might improve your efficiency but miss the opportunity to take the next leap in quality. |
| Be clear about the value and benefits | It’s easy to get caught up in the hype of using new technology without achieving something that delivers real value to you, your organisation or your clients. Remind yourself that necessity is the mother of invention. |
| Experience is important to managing risk but can’t be at the expense of bias | Previous experience can help you understand what works and what can go wrong – but this should not deter you from trying something new. Innovation by its nature is doing something no one has done before. |
| Build a culture of ethical decision-making | Some of the greatest innovation comes from junior staff unshackled by experience – but be aware that the downside of this can be unintentional data breaches or technology misuse or building bias in. You can manage this risk by making sure your staff are educated on data governance accountabilities, ethical decision-making and your organisation’s values. Choose an ethical data governance framework which can be a guiding light for you. |
| Collaborate, collaborate, collaborate! | Everyone can have a great idea, but the greatest solutions usually come from collaboration. Growing and evolving an idea with different subject matter experts across your organisation can deliver rich perspectives. At QAO we have built a whole framework focused on fleshing out the great ideas our staff have. Using the framework, we can ensure the benefits match the development cost and that the solution benefits as many stakeholders as possible. |
Managing your ethical and security risks
Emerging technologies will continue to evolve, providing entities with great opportunities to innovate. But they can also raise serious questions around ethics, privacy and security.
This important consideration is examined in our recent audit on managing the ethical risks of artificial intelligence. This report provides great insight into how this topic is being addressed within the Queensland public sector and provides a useful checklist of key questions that those charged with governance can consider when managing ethical risks.
Resources
Reports
- Managing the ethical risks of artificial intelligence | Queensland Audit Office
- Responding to and recovering from cyber attacks | Queensland Audit Office
- Delivering successful technology projects | Queensland Audit Office
Fact Sheets
- Role capability checklist for cyber attack response and recovery | Queensland Audit Office
- Cyber response and recovery governance checklist | Queensland Audit Office
- Delivering successful technology projects | Queensland Audit Office
- Learnings for ICT projects | Queensland Audit Office
Blogs
- To classify, or not to classify...there is no question! | Queensland Audit Office
- Setting up technology projects for success | Queensland Audit Office
- Rethinking data governance for artificial intelligence and emerging technologies | Queensland Audit Office
- Increasing concerns around cyber security risks | Queensland Audit Office