The theme of this year’s conference, to be held on 25-26 September at 1 Wimpole Street, London W1 is “Demanding the best from internal audit”, covering a wide range of key issues from strategic and practical operational levels.

Day one kicks off with a look at the changing regulatory environment and its implications for internal audit. Risks have shifted and board and stakeholder expectations have risen around the importance of effective governance, risk management and control. The conference programme examines the need for internal audit to respond to this environment by redefining its value and how to put this into practice.

We are delighted to have the UK information commissioner, Christopher Graham, and Judith Hackitt, chair of the Health and Safety Executive, providing an overview of the regulatory challenges faced by organisations and internal audit functions in their respective sectors. 

A chaired panel discussion will dig deeper into the internal audit role in providing assurance to regulators, including how to develop a focus on regulatory risk; how to identify the key requirements and issues; and how to build an integrated approach to providing assurance.

After taking the opportunity to refuel and network with peers over lunch, delegates will reconvene for the afternoon session, when the theme turns to “Being the best you can be”. Faried Chopdat, deputy head of global internal audit at SABMiller, and Kay Peacock, head of internal audit at the Atomic Weapons Establishment, will explore ways to achieve best performance when overseeing audit planning, risk and control. This will cover practical areas such as how to be proactive rather than reactive; how to focus on the key issues; and how to develop a realistic and workable model.

As in previous years, the conference programme will also include break-out groups to encourage delegates to explore these and other issues in greater detail and exchange experiences and best practice with internal auditors in other roles and sectors. There will also be a networking drinks reception, hosted by IIA partner Thomson Reuters at the end of the first day.

Raising the bar

The second day continues the theme of “Being the best”, but looks specifically at how it can be achieved through improving personal and departmental performance. Simon Fairchild, partner, internal audit, at PwC, sets the scene with a keynote session based on the results of the “PwC 2012 state of internal audit profession study”. This will focus on the growing importance of risk management and internal audit’s contribution by taking a closer look at how stakeholders and board members view critical risks and the role that internal audit could be playing.

This revealing overview of the profession and where it is heading will be followed by a wide choice of break-out sessions, including a look at what governance, risk and compliance looks like, tacking the threat of cybercrime and what makes your audit department truly efficient.

The afternoon plenary sessions cover positioning internal audit for success and the IIA is delighted that both Phil Tarling, chairman of IIA Global, and Paul Marshall, group internal audit director, Old Mutual, will be speaking on these areas.

For more information visit bit.ly/IIA2012AnnualConference for the full programme and to book your place, or contact trainingandevents@iia.org.uk for more information.