President of the Association of National Accountants of Nigeria (ANAN), Prof. Muhammad Mainoma says professional accountants must aspire to adapt effectively with the disruptive technologies and innovations associated with the profession to be a step ahead with innovative skills.
Mainoma gave the advice in Abuja on Tuesday in his welcome address at the 25th Annual Conference of ANAN. According to him, it is in line with the above that the association considers it necessary for the 25th Annual Conference to consider the theme: “Disruptive Technologies and Innovations: The Place of the Accountants’’.
He explained that the Conference is expected to attract over 5,000 participants both physically and virtually to rub minds on the place of the Accountants in developing the best strategies for managing the disruptive technologies and innovation in contemporary times.
“Distinguished participants, it is time to reflect: Innovation is about Value Creation, Value Addition, Value Measurement, Value Evaluation, Value Reporting, Value Assessment and Value Sustainability.
“The Accountant of today is faced with the challenges of reconciling disruptive technologies and Innovative efforts, which has necessitated the need for us as professionals to have the conversations that has brought us here.
“The lead presenters will guide us to expose these disruptive technologies vis-a-vis the various innovative efforts and we shall discuss them with a view to clearly establishing the place of Accountants.
“With the wave of globalization cutting across all countries in the world today, the stark reality is that for accountants to remain relevant, we must gain an in-depth understanding of the various disruptive technologies and the influence these ‘disruptions’ exert on innovation.
“The interplay between accounting, innovative technology, and knowledge management is an increasingly crucial and relevant topic of discourse in contemporary times,’’ the ANAN president said.
He noted that the debates, however, need to be integrated and comprehended as a whole to support the accounting adventure and incursion into the new era of digital technology.
Mainoma explained that disruptive technology was essentially an innovation that significantly altered the way that consumers, industries, businesses and even nations operate.
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“Recent examples of disruptive technologies include; robotic process automation (RPA), artificial intelligence (AI), blockchain, smart contracts, advanced analytics e-commerce, online news sites and ride-sharing apps, just to mention a few.
“We as accountants must not only be bothered about the present but the future should be of concern to us.
“This is because recently, disruptive technologies have reshaped existing business models and facilitated the emergence of new ones wherein repetitive and mundane tasks are becoming less important and the need for high-level skills is increasing.
“Though experts have posited that it will still be sometime before these technologies will affect the workplace at a significant scale, the current wave of globalization suggests otherwise as more level of cognitive skills may eventually disappear.
“It has been estimated that at least 50 [per cent of the work that accountants and other professionals are paid for is automatable through currently available technologies, with an additional 15 per cent automatable forthcoming technologies which are still emerging.
“This constant disruption and the static focus of the traditional accounting framework create a mismatch between the supply and demand of the necessary talents,’’ the ANAN president said.
According to him, there is a need, therefore, to integrate together, the debates surrounding the Disruptive Technologies, Digital Technology, Cloud Accounting, with Innovative Technology and Knowledge Management for the Accountant of today.
“In welcoming you to this special Conference at 41 years of existence, we cannot shy away from some key issues that must form the basis of our interactions.
“Across the globe, those who seek to remain relevant are professionals who have not only accounting, auditing knowledge and general basic skills but also analytical skills and computer programming or coding experience.
“As a matter of fact, the ‘accounting of the future’ requires ‘accounting plus’ skills including a mindset that is innovative, global, questioning, challenging, leadership skills, the curiosity to ask better questions, the emotional intelligence to better connect and communicate with clients; and knowledge of techniques that are capable of ‘positively disrupting’ the norm.
“Consequently, the advent of disruptive technologies is forcing members of the accounting profession to learn new skills, especially IT, statistics, and modelling. To satisfy the constantly changing needs of the workplace, our professional accounting model should also be up-to-date.
“We have consistently, for the past 25 years gathered to discuss the affairs of our nation.
“The last before today was on `Nation Building and Sustainable Growth: Challenges and Prospects’. The logical follow-up to that is to sustain our collective nation-building efforts, hence the theme of this year’s Conference, “Disruptive Technologies and Innovations: The Place of the Accountants’’, he said.
Mainoma suggested that the way to nation-building and sustainable growth should be innovation and Technology.
Dr Nuruddeen Abdullahi, the Chief Executive Officer of the association said he was extremely happy that the theme of the conference is designed to offer comprehensive range of sessions that include Application of Artificial Intelligence in Reporting; the Fourth Industrial Revolution and the Accountancy Profession;
Financial Management Innovation and Sustainable Growth as well as Multifaceted Accountant: Innovation and Creativity as a Game Changer. According to him, the evolving trend in Accountancy profession is fast becoming more technology-driven than the traditional book keeping. “The changing landscape in the profession is being anchored by technological Innovations, such as the use of information technology, artificial intelligence and blockchain technology.
“Since this conference covers very important global aspects on the Accountancy profession, anyone interested in future of the profession should not miss.
“Despite the disturbances of Covid-19 pandemic on humanity and economic growth globally, the Conference brings together, a multi-disciplinary group of Accounting and Finance professionals, academics, leaders in industry and government as well as influential entrepreneurs to present and exchange breakthrough ideas relating to the profession of accountancy.
“It promotes top level presentations and discourse focusing attention on the emerging trends in the profession, and future trends and needs with the aim to provide you with the opportunity to report, share, and discuss achievements, issues and challenges for future ready accountants,’’ Abdullahi said.
He was confident that the 2020 ANAN National Conference would serve as a catalyst by connecting professionals within and across disciplines under a single roof, saying that it would create an environment, conducive to information exchange, generation of new ideas, acceleration of applications and networking with hundreds of delegates that benefit our nation.
Prof. Adebayo Adejola, the Chairman, Conference, Workshops & Publicity Committee of ANAN, said the world had entered what some regarded as an era of ‘digital Darwinism’ where technology was evolving too fast for many individuals and organisations to adapt to the changes.
According to him, as the rate of change accelerates, people, businesses and entire countries are struggling to stay aware of the latest technological developments, let alone understand them well enough to exploit them – and the rapid rate of change is unlikely to slow down.
“The pace and nature of change in the environment has had a profound influence on business organizations and the way in which they are managed. Some authors in Management Theory even suggest that a paradigm shift has taken place in the way in which companies are managed.
“Accounting, as the language of business and its accounting information system, as a subsystem of the business organisation has also been affected by these changes.
“The paper on financial management innovations and sustainable growth, will empower us with the requisite knowledge on the capacity to capture, allocate, control and utilize financial resources for innovation and sustainable growth.
“The Savvy Accountant, equipped with innovative, creative and digital accounting knowledge will remain relevant in the teaching and practice of accounting in the current digital world and future. “Once the drumbeat changes, the dance steps will change; technology is disrupting every sector of the economy with specific reference to the financial sector and the accountancy profession,’’ Adejola said.
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