On 27th February 2019, the ASEANSAI Secretariat hosted a one-day workshop in Jakarta, to introduce the operationalization and management of its newly developed online platfrom for regional knowledge exchange among ASEANSAI members. Twenty-two participants, representing the ASEANSAI committee chairs and representatives of the member SAIs participated in this hands-on training.
Knowledge Management Consultant of GIZ, Mr. Sebastian Hoffman (left), SAI Indonesia (BPK) Representatives Mr. Hery Subowo (center) and Mr. Wahyudi during the opening of the ASEANSAI Knowledge System workshop in Jakarta
Over the past months, the ASEANSAI Secretariat, together with a multi-disciplinary team of IT-, knowledge management-, PR- and project management experts, has worked on enhancing the existing ASEANSAI website. The process has been supported by the German Government, implemented by GIZ.
An initial assessment of the organization’s knowledge management needs and the subsequent developments of option to address this topic strategically have conducted in November 2018. A short-term IT-expert supported the ASEANSAI Secretariat in the development of ASEANSAI Essentials, implementing a taylor-made technical solution to integrate the agreed structure, additional features and technical support.
In his welcome remarks, Mr. Hery Subowo, Acting Secretary General of SAI Indonesia (BPK), recognized that since ASEANSAI’s establishment, various capacity building and knowledge sharing projects and activities have rresulted in a variety of relevant outputs and products such as guidelines, training and workshop materials.
“In a highly dynamic environment such in ASEANSAI, some challenges we are facing are geographic distances, language barriers as well consistent staff rotation within audit offices” said Mr. Subowo. “I am happy to know that the ASEANSAI website has been improved now with its library to make knowledge management more effective and efficient for both ASEANSAI members and relevant stakeholders”.
Introducing ASEANSAI Essentials
As its initial step, the features have been embedded in the ASEANSAI website to ensure the organization’s knowledge is archived in the system. The system will be clearly defined between internal users and public in accessing and managing the documents.
” We are improving the work processes within ASEANSAI by bringing auditing knowledge at fingertips, instantly accessible, available at anytime and anywhere. Institutional staff with basic technological expertise is empowered to manage and archive the wealth of knowledge gained from the capacity building programs. Thus, our knowledge management contributes to the overall sustainability of ASEANSAI as a cross country organization.” Said Mr. Sebastian Hoffman, Knowledge Management Consultant and the Facilitator for the workshop.
During the workshop, the participants learned about digital workflows of the ASEANSAI website and new features of ASEANSAI Essentials, as a platform to share and archive the regional organization’s experiences and lesson learned.
The participants appointed focal persons for each ASEANSAI committee to manage knowledge material in the future and facilitate the efficient use of Essentials in the future. User guidelines and a number of instructional videos have been prepared to support users of ASEANSAI Essentials in using the new platform.
“We believe this workshop will serve as a milestone to improve the consensus built on the way forward to use and contribute for sustainability of the ASEANSAI knowledge management.” Mr. Subowo said.
Group photo of the participants attending the ASEANSAI Knowledge System Workshop in Jakarta. During the workshop, the participants voted for “ASEANSAI Essentials” as the name of the online library system.
