ANAN urges accountants to use disruptive technologies
President of the Association of National Accountants of Nigeria (ANAN), Prof. Muhammad Mainoma has advised accountants to be acquainted with the use of disruptive technologies and innovations associated with the profession.
Speaking during the ANAN 25th annual conference in Abuja on the theme: Disruptive Technologies and Innovations: The Place of the Accountants, he explained that innovation is about creation, addition, measurement, evaluation, reporting, assessment and sustainability of value.
Mainoma explained that disruptive technology was essentially an innovation that significantly altered the way that consumers, industries, businesses and even nations operate.
“Recent examples of disruptive technologies include robotic process automation, artificial intelligence, blockchain, smart contracts, advanced analytics e-commerce, online news sites and ride-sharing apps, among others.
“We as accountants must not only be bothered about the present but the future should be of concern to us. This is because recently, disruptive technologies have reshaped existing business models and facilitated the emergence of new ones wherein repetitive and mundane tasks are becoming less important and the need for high-level skills is increasing,” he said.
He said that accountants are faced with the challenges of reconciling disruptive technologies and innovative efforts, which has necessitated the need for them to have the conversations.
“With the wave of globalisation cutting across all countries in the world today, the stark reality is that for accountants to remain relevant, they must gain an in-depth understanding of the various disruptive technologies and the influence these ‘disruptions’ exert on innovation.
Chairman, Conference, Workshops & Publicity Committee of ANAN, Prof. Adebayo Adejola, said the world had entered what some regarded as an era of ‘digital Darwinism’ where technology was evolving too fast for many individuals and organisations to adapt to the changes.
ANAN Chief Executive Officer, Nuruddeen Abdullahi, said he was extremely happy that the theme of the conference is designed to offer comprehensive range of sessions that include Application of Artificial Intelligence in Reporting; the Fourth Industrial Revolution and the Accountancy Profession;
Financial Management Innovation and Sustainable Growth as well as Multifaceted Accountant: Innovation and Creativity as a Game Changer.
