Internal Audit’s Involvement in Risk Management Process

Purpose To add to our understanding of the relation between internal audit and ERM, the purpose of the present paper is to perform a descriptive evidence of the extent to which a sample of Tunisian companies have implemented a risk management process, having a special focus on the current role of internal audit in ERM. Design/methodology/approach Findings are drawn from a questionnaire survey conducted in 2015 and administrated to 41 companies. In association with this, Pearson’s chi-square results test the dependence between ERM maturity and the presence of an internal auditor in companies. Findings The findings of this study show that an integrated ERM framework is essentially developed in credit institutions and a number of large companies; otherwise, it has not been sufficiently structured and formalized. Descriptive statistics provide evidence that ERM is a relatively new paradigm for several Tunisian companies. On the level of current role of internal audit in ERM, it seems that involvement in areas the IIA deemed “core” activities for internal audit is moderate. However, involvement in activities that the IIA recommends should not be undertaken is relatively high. Beyond providing the assurance that the portfolio of risks is well managed, internal auditors are assuming roles relating to risk treatment. Practical implications Considering Pearson’s chi-square results attesting the dependence between ERM maturity and the presence of an internal auditor in companies, there is an emerging need for the internal audit to have better involvement in risk management until a structured risk function will be developed. As recommended by the Institute of Internal Auditors (IIAS, 2011), it may be expected if an internal auditor fills roles, that may impair independence and objectivity, rather than nobody at all. Originality/value In the post-revolution context, Tunisian environment is becoming increasingly complex due to the several emerging risks. Companies are giving in present circumstances more interest to Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) but it is still in its infancy. In order to minimize the losses caused by these risks, the role of internal audit is involving into a more risk focused. Finding the right balance between internal audit objectivity and risk management remains a challenge for management. Keywords: ERM, internal audit, objectivity, Tunisian context

An ontology-based monitoring system for multi-source environmental observations

Multi-source observed data are generally characterized by their syntactic, structural and semantic heterogeneities. A key challenge is the semantic interoperability of these data. In this context, we propose an ontology-based system that supports environmental monitoring. Our contributions could be resumed around 1) the construction of an ontology which allows to represent the knowledge and reuse it in a real-world way, 2) the guarantee of the semantic interoperability of ontological modules since the proposed ontology is based on the upper level ontology Basic Formal Ontology (BFO) 3) the modularity of the proposed ontology in order to facilitate its reuse and evolution. The proposed ontology has been implemented and evaluated using quality metrics. We also present a real use case study that demonstrates how the proposed ontology allows implicit knowledge generation

PREDICAT: a semantic service-oriented platform for data interoperability and linking in earth observation and disaster prediction

The increasing volume of data generated by earth observation programs such as Copernicus, NOAA, and NASA Earth Data, is overwhelming. Although these programs are very costly, data usage remains limited due to lack of interoperability and data linking. In fact, multi-source and heterogeneous data exploitation could be significantly improved in different domains especially in the natural disaster prediction one. To deal with this issue, we introduce the PREDICAT project that aims at providing a semantic service-oriented platform to PREDIct natural CATastrophes. The PREDICAT platform considers (1) data access based on web service technology; (2) ontology-based interoperability for the environmental monitoring domain; (3) data integration and linking via big data techniques; (4) a prediction approach based on semantic machine learning mechanisms. The focus in this paper is to provide an overview of the PREDICAT platform architecture. A scenario explaining the operation of the platform is presented based on data provided by our collaborators, including the international intergovernmental Sahara and Sahel Observatory (OSS)

The evolving SARS-CoV-2 epidemic in Africa: Insights from rapidly expanding genomic surveillance

INTRODUCTION Investment in Africa over the past year with regard to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) sequencing has led to a massive increase in the number of sequences, which, to date, exceeds 100,000 sequences generated to track the pandemic on the continent. These sequences have profoundly affected how public health officials in Africa have navigated the COVID-19 pandemic. RATIONALE We demonstrate how the first 100,000 SARS-CoV-2 sequences from Africa have helped monitor the epidemic on the continent, how genomic surveillance expanded over the course of the pandemic, and how we adapted our sequencing methods to deal with an evolving virus. Finally, we also examine how viral lineages have spread across the continent in a phylogeographic framework to gain insights into the underlying temporal and spatial transmission dynamics for several variants of concern (VOCs). RESULTS Our results indicate that the number of countries in Africa that can sequence the virus within their own borders is growing and that this is coupled with a shorter turnaround time from the time of sampling to sequence submission. Ongoing evolution necessitated the continual updating of primer sets, and, as a result, eight primer sets were designed in tandem with viral evolution and used to ensure effective sequencing of the virus. The pandemic unfolded through multiple waves of infection that were each driven by distinct genetic lineages, with B.1-like ancestral strains associated with the first pandemic wave of infections in 2020. Successive waves on the continent were fueled by different VOCs, with Alpha and Beta cocirculating in distinct spatial patterns during the second wave and Delta and Omicron affecting the whole continent during the third and fourth waves, respectively. Phylogeographic reconstruction points toward distinct differences in viral importation and exportation patterns associated with the Alpha, Beta, Delta, and Omicron variants and subvariants, when considering both Africa versus the rest of the world and viral dissemination within the continent. Our epidemiological and phylogenetic inferences therefore underscore the heterogeneous nature of the pandemic on the continent and highlight key insights and challenges, for instance, recognizing the limitations of low testing proportions. We also highlight the early warning capacity that genomic surveillance in Africa has had for the rest of the world with the detection of new lineages and variants, the most recent being the characterization of various Omicron subvariants. CONCLUSION Sustained investment for diagnostics and genomic surveillance in Africa is needed as the virus continues to evolve. This is important not only to help combat SARS-CoV-2 on the continent but also because it can be used as a platform to help address the many emerging and reemerging infectious disease threats in Africa. In particular, capacity building for local sequencing within countries or within the continent should be prioritized because this is generally associated with shorter turnaround times, providing the most benefit to local public health authorities tasked with pandemic response and mitigation and allowing for the fastest reaction to localized outbreaks. These investments are crucial for pandemic preparedness and response and will serve the health of the continent well into the 21st century

Le Management des risques dans les entreprises Tunisiennes Un état des lieux après la révolution

Cet article dresse un état des lieux des entreprises tunisiennes en matière de management des risques. L’objectif étant de recenser les principaux risques relevés par ces entreprises et d’avoir une vue d’ensemble du dispositif de management des risques dans le contexte tunisien post-révolution. Les résultats relatifs à l’enquête menée auprès de 30 entreprises révèlent que les principaux risques internes concernent les problèmes psychosociaux du personnel, le risque d’insolvabilité des clients ainsi que la baisse de la demande. D’autres risques sont externes à l’entreprise et sont relatifs à l’augmentation des coûts et à l’existence des marchés parallèles. Les résultats montrent, également, que le dispositif de management des risques est plutôt informel et concentré sur l’analyse des risques spécifiques, hormis le cas des établissements de crédit qui semblent être mieux outillés en matière de management des risques

Etude fonctionnelle de deux transporteurs HKT1;4 de Triticum monococcum

Etude fonctionnelle de deux transporteurs HKT1;4 de Triticum monococcum. Journées Internationales de Biotechnologie 2015 (Association Tunisienne de Biotechnologie

Etude fonctionnelle de deux transporteurs HKT1;4 de Triticum monococcum

Etude fonctionnelle de deux transporteurs HKT1;4 de Triticum monococcum. Journées Internationales de Biotechnologie 2015 (Association Tunisienne de Biotechnologie

Caractérisation fonctionnelle par électrophysiologie d’un transporteur HKT1;4-A1 de Triticum monococcum

Caractérisation fonctionnelle par électrophysiologie d’un transporteur HKT1;4-A1 de Triticum monococcum. Journées Internationales de Biotechnologie 2014 (Association Tunisienne de Biotechnologie