The Brazilian Federal Court of Accounts (TCU) achieved the highest score in the IDIGI-EFS 2023 assessment, an indicator that measures the availability of information from Supreme Audit Institutions (SAI) in Latin America and the Caribbean. The Technical Commission on Good Governance Practices (CTPBG) of the Organization of Latin American and Caribbean of Supreme Audit Institutions (OLACEFS) is responsible for carrying out the study, working in partnership with the Corporación Acción Ciudadana Colombia (AC-Colombia). 

The qualitative aspects of the IDIGI-EFS aim to ensure that SAIs carry out a comparative analysis of information availability regarding audit actions, management, and audit results of each institution. The executive director of the Corporación Acción Ciudadana Colombia (AC-Colombia), Luis Fernando Velásquez Leal, explains that the initiative is crucial for enhancing the transparency of audit agencies to society and for developing good governance practices related to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). 

 “The IDIGI-EFS strengthens the internal institutional dynamics of SAIs by prioritizing the right of access to information in their work agendas. Currently, all 22 OLACEFS institutions have interdisciplinary teams with different areas of expertise collaborating in a coordinated manner to ensure access to information and address the demands of the population”, explains Leal. 

 In the latest assessment carried out in 2023, the TCU achieved the highest score of 100 points, indicating an excellent level of information availability to citizens. Leal explains that the result highlights TCU's commitment to providing detailed, timely, and quality information, aligned with OLACEFS standards. 

“The Brazilian Federal Court of Accounts complies with all IDIGI-EFS standards that measure the availability of information to citizens. It keeps updated information regarding reports, news, relevant events, and publications, providing easy-to-understand content to citizens on its institutional portal. In addition, it also offers technological innovations for virtual assistance to citizens. These aspects demonstrate a consolidated communication strategy, representing a good practice in external communication”, points out the director of AC-Colombia.  

Positive results over recent years 

The first IDIGI-EFS assessment took place in 2017. Since then, it has become an institutional practice to perform it every two years. In 2023, the fifth edition was completed, considering that an intermediate evaluation was carried out in 2018. 

 In the 2023 fifth edition of the IDIGI-EFS, there was an increase of 34.3 percentage points in the regional average index compared to the first edition in 2017. This progress raised the degree of information from an average level of 51.3% in 2017 among member countries to a good level of 85.62% in 2023. This indicates that more information is available on the institutional portals of OLACEFS members.    
The AC-Colombia executive director explains that this ongoing increase reinforces the region's commitment to promoting transparency and accountability, contributing to greater participation by society in auditing and monitoring SAI activities. “The rise in information availability undeniably enhances citizens’ confidence in the institutional management of SAIs, since it provides people with a greater amount of technical information about how public resources are audited. It is an essential aspect for social control, enabling citizens to develop an informed opinion about the audit management of their country”, concluded Leal.