Deloitte, NASACT: Digital Spending Increases, Greater Focus on Digital Strategy Is a Top Need for State Auditors, Comptrollers and Treasurers

Survey reflects a sharp drop in satisfaction to response to digital trends among NASACT members, the importance of a digital strategy to keep pace with technology

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Deloitte

Aug 13, 2018, 09:24 ET

WASHINGTON, Aug. 13, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- The 2018 Digital Government Transformation Survey released today by Deloitte and the National Association of State Auditors, Comptrollers and Treasurers (NASACT) reveals how its members are investing more in digital transformation, yet only 35 percent of respondents are satisfied with their organizations' responses to digital trends. This is a drop of 29 points from the 2015 survey. Additionally, less than half of respondents stated they have a clear and coherent digital strategy.

"The survey reveals an eagerness for state financial professionals to use digital technologies on par with the private sector," said R. Kinney Poynter, executive director, NASACT. "Our members want to take advantage of emerging technologies, but clearly impediments to being more digital remain."

"One clear takeaway from the survey is that those NASACT member organizations who have a clear and coherent digital strategy consider their digital capabilities to be comparable or ahead of the private sector," said Christina Dorfhuber, principal, Deloitte Consulting LLP, and a government and public services ERP strategy leader. "We also saw how respondents with a digital strategy were more satisfied with their organization's reaction to new trends and more confident in their organization's readiness to respond to new ones, demonstrating that much of an organization's digital prowess hinges on that strategy."

"The expectations for digital strategies and opportunities are clearly increasing for all organizations, including governments," said Clark Partridge, state comptroller of Arizona and president-elect of NASACT. "As we expand our understanding, we can appropriately identify opportunities to leverage technology to re-engineer our processes and enhance the capacity of our workforce. The result is a greater capacity to successfully accomplish the work of government and deliver quality outcomes to citizens."

The survey reveals three key themes:

A digital strategy is important. Most, but not all, respondents reported having a digital strategy and believe that there is more that needs to be done. Those with a digital strategy were more satisfied with their organization's reaction to digital trends (54 percent versus 18 percent of respondents) and confident in the understanding of digital trends by their leaders (87 percent versus 30 percent).
Investing in automation and cognitive technologies. With more funding, organizations must determine which technologies to invest in. Currently only 11 percent of organizations reported a broad use of automation and cognitive technologies. Increasing these numbers will be critical as more audits are likely to be augmented by these technologies in the coming year.
Addressing the digital skills gap. While 65 percent of organizations indicated that training staff would be a key focus, 39 percent of organizations also noted they would augment staff with consultants and contractors. Additionally, only 48 percent of respondents believe their employees have sufficient skills to execute a digital strategy while 43 percent believe that employees have the skills for automation and cognitive technologies.

The report examined the need for more training and a skilled workforce in these new emerging technologies to eliminate the skills gap.

"Emerging technologies can have tremendous benefits for state organizations, but preparation is needed," said William D. Eggers, executive director for Deloitte's Center for Government Insights. "Public finance leaders looking to capitalize on emerging technologies should devise a roadmap for integrating these technologies into their day-to-day operations."

The previous survey was conducted in 2015. This year's survey includes feedback from more than 70 NASACT member offices. A more detailed analysis of the survey can be found here, including data specific to auditors, comptrollers and treasurers.

About Deloitte
Deloitte provides industry-leading audit, consulting, tax and advisory services to many of the world's most admired brands, including more than 85 percent of the Fortune 500 and more than 6,000 private and middle market companies. Our people work across more than 20 industry sectors to make an impact that matters — delivering measurable and lasting results that help reinforce public trust in our capital markets, inspire clients to see challenges as opportunities to transform and thrive, and help lead the way toward a stronger economy and a healthy society. Deloitte is proud to be part of the largest global professional services network serving our clients in the markets that are most important to them.

About NASACT
The National Association of State Auditors, Comptrollers and Treasurers is an organization for state officials tasked with the financial management of state government. NASACT's membership is comprised of officials who have been elected or appointed to the offices of state auditor, state comptroller or state treasurer in the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and the U.S. territories. NASACT has a headquarters office in Lexington, Kentucky, and a second office in Washington, DC. For more information on NASACT or its affiliate organizations, the National State Auditors Association (NSAA) and the National Association of State Comptrollers (NASC), call (859) 276-1147 or visit www.nasact.org.

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SOURCE Deloitte