The second SAI20 Summit held at Goa under the aegis of India’s G20 Presidency has called upon the Supreme Audit Institutions (SAI) to take measures for suitable integration of artificial intelligence (AI) in audit processes and tasks for improved audit efficiency and effectiveness.

SAIs must invest in capacity development on AI within their institutions through targeted training in tools, technologies, and knowhow, with the twin objectives of auditing AI systems as well as use of AI in the audit process, the SAI20 Engagement Group’s final communique said. 

The second SAI20 Summit was organised to collaborate and strengthen SAIs role and responsibilities in promoting efficiency, accountability effectiveness and transparency in delivery of public services.

Ethical values

The SAIs have also been urged to examine the accountable use of AI so that ethical values and principles, which form a key component of Responsible AI, are upheld while realising the full potential benefits of using this transformative technology.

Also SAIs must address the need to derive assurance through sound risk management framework for public entities to identify and mitigate risks associated with implementation of AI in public services.

Heads of SAIs of 16 countries including Argentina, Australia, Brazil, China, Indonesia, Republic of Korea, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa and Turkiye attended the three day SAI20 Summit organised by the SAI20 Engagement Group at Goa from June 12-14.

The second SAI20 Summit had two priority areas — Blue economy and Responsible AI.

Identifying with the priority area – Responsible AI, the SAI20 communique acknowledged that AI systems hold vast potential to unlock economic value and help mitigate social challenges. 

AI can positively impact the delivery of all 17 goals and 169 targets recognised in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, it added. “We also acknowledge that rapid adoption of AI systems presents risks which need to be managed”, the final communique said.

Recognising the benefits as well as the challenges posed by AI, SAI20 reaffirmed the need for Responsible AI and agreed for the SAIs to support monitoring by governments to enhance the economy in terms of reduced cost, efficiency in terms of productivity gains and effectiveness in terms of achievement of intended objectives of AI-aided government programmes.

Optimal governance

It was also agreed to support optimal governance in use of AI thereby ensuring transparency, security, accountability, reproducibility and sustainability, under the existing legal and regulatory framework.

The need to support  fairness in the use of AI, in order to minimise all bias viz. gender, race, representation, etc, through optimal regulatory, inclusivity and safety standards, suited to the respective national environment was also stressed in the final communique.

Blue economy

To address challenges and threats to the Blue Economy, the SAI20 members agreed that SAIs will continue to support the need for a comprehensive policy for promoting inclusive and sustainable growth in Blue Economy, the final communique said.

The SAI20 members called upon the SAIs to promote cooperation and knowledge sharing among themselves to initiate a robust framework for audit of the Blue economy, while considering different national circumstances and mandate.

SAI20 members wanted the SAI members to formulate widely applicable and actionable audit products including international auditing guidelines and comprehensive tool kits for audit of the Blue economy, enabling the assessment of effectiveness of its policies and programs promoting Blue economy.

SAI20 members also wanted the SAIs to promote appropriate training and knowledge sharing initiatives together with UN initiatives among the SAIs.

Participants

The SAI20 Summit saw a participation of about 85 national and international delegates from G20 member SAIs viz. Australia, Brazil, Korea, Indonesia, India, Russia, Saudi Arabia and Turkiye; Guest SAIs, viz. Bangladesh, Egypt, Mauritius, Nigeria, Oman, Spain and UAE; Invited SAIs, viz. Morocco and Poland; International Organisation, viz. USAID and World Bank; and Engagement Group viz. Think20 and Youth20. 

On the sidelines of the summit, the CAG of India signed MoUs for strengthening co-operation and knowledge sharing with SAIs of Indonesia, Türkiye and Republic of Korea.

(This correspondent was at Panaji at the invitation of CAG of India for SAI20 Summit)