pICTure – Supporting SAIs in strengthening ICT Governance

These new dynamic underscores the relevance of understanding how mature existing ICT systems of a SAI are as well as the SAI’s ability of auditing IT-related topics.

The Supreme Audit Institution Information Technology Maturity Assessment (SAI ITMA) has been developed as an instrument which allows Supreme Audit Institutions (SAIs), development partners and other interested parties to assess a SAI’s capacity in the use of ICT. The tool was developed in 2019 by the Sector Programme Good Financial Governance (SP GFG) of the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), mandated and funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).

The SAI ITMA provides a method for objectively and transparently assessing the performance of SAIs with regard to ICT. It reports on the state of the SAI’s institutional capacities concerning technology adoption, including both internal information systems and external information system auditing capabilities. This state of capacities is compared to the level of e-Government in the SAI’s country, illustrating the need for action. The framework also encompasses areas such as strategic planning, and the technical, budgetary, and human resources aspects that require strengthening.

In 2024, GIZ and IDI established a strategic partnership where the SAI ITMA was integrated in IDI’s pICTure initiative. GIZ transferred the ownership of the SAI ITMA tool to IDI in 2025.

The SAI ITMA tool can be found in two versions: a) excel sheet and b) a web-based tool.