NIK is part of a team that handles the knowledge sharing project as part of EUROSAI. The sharing of knowledge and experience is the third strategic goal of EUROSAI. The team, for that reason called Goal Team 3 (GT3), met in December at the NIK headquarters in Warsaw.
The team comprises SAIs from several European countries. They jointly work on different forms of exchanging and disseminating knowledge. In Warsaw they discussed e.g. thematic seminars which are organised by individual working groups of SAIs as part of EUROSAI. For instance, in May 2011 the Working Group on Environmental Auditing (WGEA) organised a seminar on forest management and fishery. In September 2012, a seminar was held on the use of software tools. It was prepared by the Supreme Audit Office of Czech Republic.
Knowledge sharing
GT3 members emphasised in Warsaw that European SAIs are open for cooperation with their counterparts from other parts of the world. The auditors are also willing to share knowledge with various external partners. The ultimate goal of the knowledge sharing project is to increase effectiveness of the public audit and therefore exercise a positive impact on the quality of public administration in each of those countries.
As part of GT3, NIK is the leader of a subgroup responsible for promoting staff internships and secondments. The point is to ensure temporary exchange of employees among particular audit institutions. This is also one of the ways of sharing knowledge and experience by different organisations. An employee returning from an internship may contribute both good practice and a broader professional perspective to his or her parent institution. During the meeting in Warsaw the team discussed expectations, opportunities and barriers related to the arrangement of such internships and secondments by EUROSAI.
GT3 also carries out works on two databases. The first one is to gather audits conducted by EUROSAI members. Although there are already a few similar databases in EUROSAI, they include only specialist data (e.g. database concerning environmental audit or IT issues). The database created by GT3 is to hold information on all audits. The team has scheduled to launch a pilot project of such a database in 2013. Initially, it will contain information delivered by the GT3 members.
The second database is supposed to include guidelines for EUROSAI members, training materials, minutes from meetings and publications (e.g. the annual issue of the magazine and quarterly newsletter of EUROSAI). A part of these materials is already available on EUROSAI webpage. GT3 is working on modernising the website which is to provide auditors with easy access to complete and updated information. It is supposed to be transparent and its maintenance should be inexpensive. The team intends to launch it in a new shape next year.
The GT3 Chair is the Supreme Audit Office of Czech Republic. The team includes Supreme Audit Institutions of the following countries: Austria, Belgium, Estonia, Hungary, Lithuania, former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Switzerland and Ukraine. The SAI of Spain is an expert invited to cooperate with GT3. GT3 members meet on a yearly basis. The first meeting of the team dealing with the EUROSAI strategic goal no. 3 was held in Prague in November 2011 and was of organisational nature - it was devoted to work on the draft operational plan and terms of reference for GT3.
