Audit course much in demand with foreign SAIs

New Delhi, Apr 8 (UNI) A special batch of 27 participants from 12 countries are attending a training programme on "Auditing in Information Technology Environment", being offered by the International Centre for Information Systems and Audit (iCISA).

The programme has proved so popular with students of the Supreme Audit Institutions (SAIs) of different countries, that the number of applications for the course has far exceeded the expectations of iCISA.

In view of this, the office of the Comptroller and Auditor General decided to conduct an additional programme on IT audit -- and not five as initially planned -- at the behest of the Ministry of External Affairs.

Currently, the month-long 83rd international training programme, started on March 31, is in response to the demand for the course.

Most of the trainees are being funded under the ITeS/SCAAP and Colombo Plan, sponsored by the Ministry of External Affairs and the Ministry of Finance respectively.

The Centre recognises that governments the world over are waking up to the fact that information technology (IT) in its broadest sense has a direct impact on the efficacy and efficiency of government activitiy.

The course draws on the extensive experience of the Indian Audit and Accounts Department in auditing not only Government departments but also commercial organisations and international organisations.

The IT Audit Division of the C&AG office has supervised audits of vital IT systems associated with Defence, Railways, Telecom elecricity and the transport department. SAI India's range of audit is fairly wide and extensive from vastly distributed database systems to sophisticated ERP applications.

So far, more than 2,300 middle and senior level officers from SAIs of 114 countries of Asia, Africa, Pacific and East European region attending 82 international training programmes have been imparted training since 1979.

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