The South African Institute of Professional Accountants (SAIPA) has embarked on a transformational journey to integrate technological innovations in its operations as well as rethinking its professional qualification. SAIPA has dedicated resources to support its digital transformation and the evolution of its professional qualification to enable the organization and its members to be future-ready. SAIPA launched the Center of Future Excellence (CoFE) to redesign the initial and continuing professional development program to prepare candidates and members for the new reality.

In this video series, Shahied Daniels, SAIPA CEO and Professor Rashied Small, Executive at the SAIPA Center of Future Excellence, share SAIPA’s success and challenges in embracing the 4^th industrial revolution.

“4IR is changing the way we work and live. PAOs are responsible for not only maximising the opportunities that 4IR has created for its members but also to prepare them to meet any challenges. Transformation to digitalisation is not an option, it is an imperative,” says Daniels.

In this first video, Shahied Daniels shares SAIPA’s digital strategy and how it benefitted the organization in improving its membership processes. He also explains some of the challenges SAIPA encountered and shares insights on SAIPA’s upcoming plans regarding digitalization and education.

Next up, Mr. Daniels provides viewers with a historical context of SAIPA and its professional qualification. Professor Small then shares the organization’s approach for revamping SAIPA’s professional qualification, emphasizing the role of technology. He also highlights concepts applied to support the holistic development of members.

The Center of Future Excellence (CoFE) is designed to truly center SAIPA’s members. Professor Small walks us through the objectives of the CoFE and how CoFE has enabled the expansion of accountancy education and the development of new competency frameworks in collaboration with technology developers. Professor Small also candidly shares how tuition providers and employers responded to these changes. He then outlines the key principles of a competency-based education, the pedagogical methodologies SAIPA utilized, and the resulting impact on SAIPA’s professional qualification.

Finally, we conclude with Professor Small explaining the different aspects of the professional qualification that were affected by the renovations. He presents SAIPA’s approach for moving continuing professional development and professional assessments online, and how SAIPA is supporting the reskilling and upskilling of its members.