The Competencies of Chilean Government Auditors for Collecting Audit. Electronic Evidence

Abstract

THIS PAPER REPORTS THE RESULTS OF A RESEARCH STUDY WHOSE OBJECTIVE WAS TO DETERMINE THE COMPETENCIES THAT CHILEAN GOVERNMENT AUDITORS HAVE TO OBTAIN RELIABLE AND QUALITY AUDIT ELECTRONIC EVIDENCE IN ORDER TO SUPPORT THE FINDINGS AND CONCLUSIONS CONTAINED ON THE AUDIT REPORT. FOR THIS, A COMPETENCY MODEL WAS DEVELOPED WHICH CONTAINS THE DEFINITION OF KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS REQUIRED TO OBTAIN AUDIT ELECTRONIC EVIDENCE. THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE REQUIRED COMPETENCIES WAS BASED ON THE TECHNICAL ATTRIBUTES ASSOCIATED WITH AUDIT ELECTRONIC EVIDENCE AND RELIABILITY AND QUALITY CRITERIA OF DIGITAL INFORMATION. THIS MODEL WAS USED TO ASSESS, THROUGH A SURVEY RESEARCH, IF AUDITORS POSSESSED THE SPECIFIC KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS TO WORK WITH THIS TYPE OF EVIDENCE. THE POPULATION WAS CONSTITUTED BY 237 AUDITORS EMPLOYED BY PUBLIC SERVICE DEPARTMENTS BELONGING TO 9 MINISTRIES. THE SURVEY WAS RESPONDED BY 197 INDIVIDUALS, REPRESENTING 83.1% OF THE POPULATION. THE RESEARCH FINDINGS INDICATE THAT ONLY 8.1% OF THE POPULATION HAS THE COMPETENCIES TO OBTAIN RELIABLE AND QUALITY AUDIT ELECTRONIC EVIDENCE. GIVEN THE RAPID DEVELOPMENT OF ELECTRONIC GOVERNMENT IN CHILE, THIS STUDY CONCLUDES ON THE URGENT NEED FOR GOVERNMENT AUDITORS TO DEVELOP COMPETENCIES TO WORK WITH AUDIT ELECTRONIC EVIDENCE, OTHERWISE, THE AUDIT RISK COULD SUBSTANTIALLY BE INCREASED.