Innovative data analysis saves millions of dollars for federal government of Canada

2014-08-01

Congratulations to David Coderre, Public Servant in Residence, Telfer School of Management, University of Ottawa and Christian Lohyer, Manager, Office of the Comptroller General of Canada, winners of the ACL Impact Award for Technology Innovation this year! The Technology Innovation award, presented along with four other Impact Awards at ACL Connections, recognizes a person/team leading significant transformation within their organization, through the use of ACL software tools in a creative and innovative way.

These two public servants transformed the way internal audit and financial monitoring is conducted across the federal government of Canada. They developed a series of interconnected initiatives powered by ACL data analysis software to improve the ability of auditors to access and analyze financial data, using data-driven indicators to examine financial risks and controls at all levels of operations. The innovative program supports 100+ federal government departments by providing them with access to financial data in a common format that allows for the common development and sharing of ACL scripts to audit various business processes, key financial controls, and monitor financial performance and trends.

Success highlights:

• Since scripts were developed centrally and made available to all federal government departments, millions of dollars were saved in the development and implementation costs.
• The standard extract provides data in a consistent format, allowing the 100+ departments to use and share analysis tools and techniques for auditing and financial monitoring.
• The ability to apply a data-driven approach to monitor and test controls, and assess financial risks on an ongoing basis:
• improves government efficiency and effectiveness
• increases public confidence, transparency and openness
• supports the independent assessment of government spending and stewardship of resources

Congratulations to Dave and Christian on their innovative work in applying data analysis for the public good!

(Source: ACL Blog)