SDP Roundtable and FIPP Meeting

On 22 November 2023, in the follow-up to the 77^th meeting of the INTOSAI Governing Board, INTOSAI's four Goal Committees, the Forum for INTOSAI Professional Pronouncements and the INTOSAI General Secretariat entered into a dialogue on the implementation of the newly adopted Strategic Development Plan (SDP) for the period 2023–2028. This SDP Roundtable, steered by the Chair of Goal Committee 1 in charge of professional standards, took place in the Austrian Court of Audit and was also attended by Auditor-General Tsakani Maluleke, Head of the Supreme Audit Institution of South Africa and Chair of Goal Committee 2 in charge of capacity building.

The SDP serves to operationalize the INTOSAI Strategic Plan 2023–2028 and, in particular, to support the achievement of INTOSAI Goal 1, namely the development, maintenance and advocacy for professional standards for SAIs. The initiatives defined in the new SDP are based on the vision of enhancing the understandability and recognition of the INTOSAI professional pronouncements and therefore revolve around various aspects of standard setting:

• The ‘T’ Initiative is to develop a clear and consistent terminology for the INTOSAI Framework of Professional Pronouncements (IFPP).
• The ‘I’ Initiative shall ensure the clarity of the ISSAIs based on the results of the ‘T’ initiative.
• The ‘P’ Initiative aims to identify and analyse gaps and inconsistencies of the INTOSAI Principles.
• The ‘G’ Initiative is to develop a more effective approach to and a structured communication around guidance documents both within and outside the IFPP.
• The ‘A’ Initiative shall improve the accessibility to the pronouncements by making use of the opportunities provided by digitalization.

As concluded in the roundtable, all these initiatives will require

• inclusive communication and consultation,
• project management, including strategic sequencing and timelines,
• update of the current FIPP project proposal template to ensure clear understanding of the purpose, scope and responsibilities, as well as
• coordinated outreach for the sourcing of appropriate and active project members.

In light of these requirements, the SDP Roundtable participants agreed to create an "SDP Core Group" consisting of all Goal Committee chairs and vice chairs, the FIPP chair and vice-chair as well as the INTOSAI General Secretariat. This group will provide the opportunity for regular consultations and consistent coordination in the planning and implementation of the initiatives.

The subsequent FIPP meeting, which was held on the following day, provided the opportunity for the members of the FIPP, the Goal Chairs and the INTOSAI General Secretariat to take a close look at the rationale behind each initiative, the outcomes expected, the interlinkages between the initiatives, the required expertise and the estimated workload. The multi-faceted considerations and consultations held in this context will form the basis for the SDP-related outreach activities, which will also include the elaboration of concept papers to inform the INTOSAI community in a concise and graphic manner about each initiative and encourage INTOSAI's members to take an active role in their implementation.