The war in Ukraine and the Middle East, the growing threat of cyber-attacks, the onslaught of new technologies, the need for a strong and resilient economy, climate change and its effects, the lack of required knowledge and skills highlight the issue of individual and collective of our choices. Responsibility and accountability is a gift that each of us uses for the development of our personality, the good of our society, young people, businesses, the state and the whole world. In this context, the Institute of Internal Auditors of Greece (IIA Greece) is organizing its annual conference on November 12, at the Athens Concert Hall, Trianti Hall, where issues of ethics and culture, new risks and trends, regulatory and legislative developments and of course the future of the internal auditor profession.

From the economic crisis and geopolitical conditions to the growing threat of cyber-attacks and developments in new technologies highlighting the need for accountability, the annual conference of the Institute of Internal Auditors is more relevant this year than ever. On November 12, at the Athens Concert Hall, the conference brings together internal auditors as well as professionals from related fields from Greece and abroad, to explore the new conditions and new risks.

Entitled “The Gift of Accountability”, the conference will examine how contemporary trends are redefining the internal audit landscape and how new ethical challenges are taking shape. Leading experts will analyze key issues such as:

Cybersecurity: How to protect businesses from ever-evolving cyberthreats.
Artificial intelligence: How AI can enhance the effectiveness of internal control, but also what risks it poses.
Ethics: How can we ensure that technology is used ethically and that human value is not sacrificed.
Supply chain: How internal control can ensure business resilience in times of crisis and war
Whistle blowing: Why some of our choices require life decisions.
New changes in the legislative and regulatory framework: What actions are required and what are the risks.
New Internal Audit Standards from the IIA: How they shape the new framework for conducting audits and the advisory services offered.

The speakers are: Anthony J. Pugliese – President & CEO IIA Global, CIA, CPA, CGMA, CITP, Vassiliki Lazarakou – Chair of the Hellenic Capital Markets Commission, Michael Bletsas – Governor, National Cybersecurity Authority of Greece, Director of Computing, MIT Media Lab, Dr. Sabine Charles – Chief Audit Executive, United States – Charles Financial Strategies LLC, Xavier Andre Justo – 1MDB Whistleblower – Nikolaos Ballas – Senior Manager, Governance, Risk, Compliance & Internal Audit, PwC Greece, Konstantinos Gavardinas – Director Risk Consulting, KPMG, Konstantinos Noulas – Principal, Grant Thornton, Michael Petrodaskalakis – CIA, CCSA, CFE, CRMA, Partner, Consulting – Enterprise Risk Services, Ernst & Young Business Advisory Solutions, Toula Efthymiou – Chief Money Laundering Officer of Financial Crime Compliance, National Bank of Greece, Irem Nuhoglu – Ph.D. Accountancy and Finance Bogazici University, Department of Management University of Texas at Austin, McCombs School of Business, Visiting Scholar, Benoit Harel – Director IFACI Certification, Pavlos Venizelos – Principal, Assurance, Deloitte, Tom Anderson – Senior Solution Consultant, Wolters Kluwer, Stelios Vogiatzis – Consulting Director, Forvis Mazars, Konstantina Batsari – Principal, Sustainability Assurance, Assurance, Deloitte, Dr. Lazaros Polymenakos – Partner Technology Consulting EY, Triantafyllos Sarafidis – Head of Information Systems & Security Audit Team, Grant Thornton, Antonis Diollas – Head of Audit and Assurance at ACCA’s Policy & Insights team, Anestis Dimopoulos – Director – Head of Digital and Risk Advisory Services , Baker Tilly, Dimosthenis Georgakopoulos – Managing Director, SysteCom Moderator, Spyros Maltezos, Strategy and Consulting Manager, Accenture, Vasilis Boursoukis – Internal Audit Manager, Branch Operations and Special Audits Alph Bank.

This year’s event will close with a landmark discussion on the future of internal audit, focused on the need to balance innovation and accountability – a critical factor for sustainable growth in today’s business world.

At a time when challenges are many and demands are high, participation in the conference offers industry professionals the opportunity to develop strategies, enhance their knowledge and communicate with each other so that they are ready to manage with responsibility and accountability, the complex reality of internal control.