THE ESSENCE, OBJECTIVES, AND KEY FUNCTIONS OF INTERNAL AUDIT IN HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS UNDER THE DIGITAL ECONOMY
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.55640/Keywords:
Internal audit; digital economy; higher education institutions; digital governance; risk management; audit effectiveness; transparency; sustainable development.Abstract
The rapid development of digital technologies has significantly transformed governance, financial management, and control systems in higher education institutions. In this context, internal audit plays a crucial role in ensuring transparency, accountability, effective risk management, and sustainable institutional development. The purpose of this study is to examine the essence, objectives, and key functions of internal audit in higher education institutions under the conditions of the digital economy. The research is based on a qualitative and analytical methodology, including a systematic review of scientific literature, international standards, and regulatory documents related to internal auditing and digital governance. The study applies comparative, logical, and structural-functional analysis to identify changes in internal audit practices resulting from digital transformation. The results indicate that internal audit in the digital economy evolves from a traditional control-oriented function into a risk-based and advisory mechanism supporting strategic management and digital governance. The integration of digital audit tools, data analytics, and continuous monitoring systems enhances audit effectiveness, transparency, and decision-making quality. At the same time, challenges related to digital competencies, technological infrastructure, and institutional readiness are identified. The study concludes that modernizing internal audit systems and aligning them with international standards are essential for strengthening governance effectiveness and sustainability in higher education institutions.References
1.Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA). International Standards for the Professional Practice of Internal Auditing. Altamonte Springs, FL: IIA, 2017.
2.Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA). Internal Auditing and the Digital Economy. Altamonte Springs, FL: IIA Research Foundation, 2019.
3.OECD. Digital Government Review: Strengthening Digital Government. Paris: OECD Publishing, 2020.
4.World Bank. Governance and the Digital Economy. Washington, DC: World Bank Publications, 2019.
5.COSO. Enterprise Risk Management – Integrating with Strategy and Performance. New York: Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission, 2017.
6.Alzeban, A., & Gwilliam, D. (2014). Factors affecting the internal audit effectiveness: A survey of the Saudi public sector. Journal of International Accounting, Auditing and Taxation, 23(2), 74–86.
7.Mihret, D. G., & Yismaw, A. W. (2007). Internal audit effectiveness: An Ethiopian public sector case study. Managerial Auditing Journal, 22(5), 470–484.
8.Lenz, R., & Hahn, U. (2015). A synthesis of empirical internal audit effectiveness literature. Journal of Accounting Literature, 35, 141–166.
9.Arena, M., & Azzone, G. (2009). Identifying organizational drivers of internal audit effectiveness. International Journal of Auditing, 13(1), 43–60.
10.Salehi, M. (2016). Investigation factors affecting the effectiveness of internal audit in the Iranian public sector. Journal of Accounting in Emerging Economies, 6(3), 224–246.
11.Vasarhelyi, M. A., Kogan, A., & Tuttle, B. M. (2015). Big data in accounting: An overview. Accounting Horizons, 29(2), 381–396.
12.Appelbaum, D., Kogan, A., Vasarhelyi, M., & Yan, Z. (2017). Impact of business analytics and enterprise systems on managerial accounting. International Journal of Accounting Information Systems, 25, 29–44.
13.European Commission. Internal Audit Capability Model for the Public Sector. Brussels: EC Publications, 2018.
14.Salihovic, A., & Karapetrovic, S. (2019). Digital transformation and internal auditing: Challenges and opportunities. Quality – Access to Success, 20(172), 89–94.
15.UNESCO. Digital Transformation in Higher Education. Paris: UNESCO Publishing, 2021.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Authors retain the copyright of their manuscripts, and all Open Access articles are disseminated under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0 (CC-BY), which licenses unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided that the original work is appropriately cited. The use of general descriptive names, trade names, trademarks, and so forth in this publication, even if not specifically identified, does not imply that these names are not protected by the relevant laws and regulations.
