EUROSAI 110 Studies and other articles During the lockdown period, the level of deployment achieved by home working was very high at the SAI. Many members of staff found themselves fulfilling their professional obligations from home using their own digital or IT equipment. In terms of data security, this poses problems, especially vis-à-vis the sensitivity of the information and work carried out by the SAI. These concerns have not always been anticipated, so they must be given urgent consideration and secure solutions found. New management practices as a result of home working The observation of how activities were carried out in the SAI at the peak of Covid-19 shows that remote management requires different organization and work methods. Accordingly, it seems necessary to strengthen the capacities of the SAI's senior management in the use of videoconferencing applications, in the mobilization and coordination of teams via IT applications, and in the detection of risks of work overload or employee isolation. When accessible to staff (stable Internet connection, IT equipment etc.), home working is an ideal option in times of pandemic, but consideration must be given to the psychosocial risks involved (psychological distress and tension, etc.). To address this, the SAI leadership will therefore need to address individual concerns by trying to: • regulate the workload of staff as best as possible; • ensure that relationships do not deteriorate, by placing importance on the meaning and recognition of work and by making risk prevention a priority. New audit areas: Audits on pandemic management In addition to new audit approaches, the COVID-19 pandemic highlighted new audit areas as an appropriate response to the new context against the backdrop of improving citizens' lives, which INTOSAI believes is the value of SAIs. The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted new audit areas as an appropriate response to the new context against the backdrop of improving citizens' lives As a result, they have had to show themselves to be flexible when turning to new audit areas arising from the management of the health crisis. The audits focused on the following areas: • the use of emergency funding for COVID-19; • emergency supplies; • governmental socio-economic support programmes; and • vaccination management.
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