The role of an auditor is dynamic. It requires a range of skillsets from technical audit knowledge, strong writing and presentation skills, to data analytics capabilities. You will experience a change in environment and team composition approximately every 3 to 9 months depending on the types of audit engagements, and get to interact with officers at the Whole-of-Government level.
One interesting aspect about being an auditor is that you get to understand and audit the processes in different Government Agencies. This helps to develop a macro view on how the Government operates, as well as to understand a wide range of processes that you would not get if you were to stay in a single role for extended period.
Work in the Digital Innovation Office (DIO)
From 2018 onwards, AGO started to embark on more data analytics and automation initiatives. As I had self-learned some programming skills (such as VBA and basic python), and worked on small scale automation projects, I was deployed to the Digital Innovation Office (DIO) to scale up such initiatives.
Since then, DIO has up-skilled the general proficiency of our officers in data analytics and automation capabilities through courses, sharing sessions and on job trainings. We have also worked with audit teams to deploy a wide range of projects, involving data visualisation, robotic process automation, advanced data preparation and machine learning models. This has enabled our audit teams to streamline their processes, enjoy man-hour savings, and to provide a new dimension to our audits that was not possible through traditional audit steps.
Continuous learning and upskilling opportunity
AGO places high emphasis on continuous learning and professional development of our officers. I was given the opportunity to pursue a full-time Master of IT in Business (Analytics) from SMU in 2020, which allowed me to further hone my data science technical skills. Through the course, I covered programming and advanced concepts, such as text analytics, graph analytics and machine learning model development. I was able to work with audit teams to apply these concepts when I came back to AGO.
Overseas Exposure
AGO has periodic engagements with audit institutions from other countries. In September 2022, I was part of the delegation sent on a learning trip to the Board of Audit and Inspection of the Republic of Korea (BAI), to learn more about BAI’s digital and technological transformation strategy, including the IT systems developed by BAI and BAI’s manpower development plans.
Through the trip, I got to better understand how the Koreans developed their data analytics system and electronic audit management system, and also took away key learning points that we could consider in our own initiatives. While there is a difference in language and culture, it was interesting to note that auditors still shared certain similar traits, such as professional scepticism and the need for independence in our reporting process.
Looking back at the past 10 years in AGO, it has been a rewarding journey and I have never regretted my decision to join AGO. Looking forward to the exciting times ahead!