Workshop of EUROSAI Strategic Goal 2 Implementation Working Group, DEA Project
Prague, 24-25 November 2022
The Supreme Audit Office (SAO), as the Chair of EUROSAI, was approached by SAI Sweden to participate in the workshop of the Working Group for the implementation of the EUROSAI Strategic Goal 2, namely the DEA project. DEA, or Data Envelopment Analysis, is a quantitative method for measuring the effectiveness of decision-making units, which is mostly used in the field of performance auditing. The aim of the project is to strengthen skills in the use of DEA, to share experience and practical knowledge, to promote mutual cooperation and also to focus on other benchmarking methods.
The kick-off meeting of the new project took place on 26 April 2022 online. It was aimed at introducing the principles of the DEA method and exchanging experience in this field. The SAO also participated in this event. Following the successful kick-off meeting, the organisers prepared a follow-up workshop which took place at the SAO premises in Prague on 24 and 25 November 2022. A total of 15 participants from different countries and 2 SAO auditors attended the workshop. The agenda included the theoretical framework for DEA and other benchmarking methods, various applications of the DEA method in audit reports as well as recommendations of good practice when conducting audits using DEA. The organisers of the workshop also focused on practical exercises where participants learned how to use a software to calculate efficiency scores.