Ethical Leadership in an Era of Complexity and Digital Change

ICAS, IFAC and CPA Canada joined forces to deliver an exciting virtual workshop exploring how professional accountants (PAs) continue to add value in the digital world. The event was based around an exploratory paper that seeks to drive conversations about:

• The shifting landscape resulting from disruptive technologies and societal changes, and the skills that will cement the profession’s value proposition going forward.
• The importance of identifying and mitigating bias to maintain objectivity and produce trustworthy information.
• The need for the profession to prioritise the development of professional values, ethics and attitudes.
• The potential re-focusing needed for PAs to add value in times of increased uncertainty and complexity.

The focus of the event was a series of breakout sessions to explore these themes in greater detail. These sessions were preceded by a number of brief, thought-provoking presentations to prime the conversations.

Speakers:

• Charles-Antoine St-Jean, FCPA, FCA, President and CEO, CPA Canada
• J Bruce Cartwright CA, CEO, ICAS
• Kevin Dancey, CM, FCPA, FCA, CEO, IFAC
• Peter Tingling, PhD, CPA, Associate Dean for Undergraduate Programs, Beedie School of Business, SFU
• Anne-Marie Vitale, MBA, CPA, CGMA, Chair, IFAC International Panel on Accountancy Education
• Brian Friedrich, LL.M, MEd, C.Dir, FCPA, FCCA and Laura Friedrich, MSc, CIA, FCPA, FCCA, Principals, friedrich & friedrich corp.
• John C. Havens, Executive Director, IEEE Global Initiative on Ethics of Autonomous and Intelligent Systems
• Alice Deakin, Executive Director, Learning at ICAS
• John Kerr, Chair, Kin and Carta plc

Building on the outputs of this event, the team will develop a thought-leadership paper to provide recommendations and guidance for key stakeholders, including implications for the profession and strategic changes that can be considered by professional accountancy organisations and national standards setters.