Sustainable Technologies for the Transition of Auditing towards a Circular Economy

This study examines the relationships between sustainability technologies, auditor transition, and circular economy models. Circular economy (CE) has been visited in recent studies as a matter of necessity to procure answers to pressing issues that befalls our society, aimed at the survival of the human species. While doing so, there has been little emphasis placed on sustainable technologies that will usher auditors into the new era. Data were constructed from a symposium organized by the Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA), where scholars and practitioners addressed the future of auditing technology, regarding, in particular, the International Social and Environmental Accreditation and Labeling (ISEAL) database official website and also interviews with experts dealing day to day with sustainability and circular economy. Discourse analysis assisted in working with these groups of data. Our findings identified 12 different relational types in our analysis, thus signaling upward trends in the preparedness of auditors in boosting sustainable technologies towards a circular economy environment. Additionally, our findings demonstrate the significant uptake of innovative tools implemented for new-generation technologies in order to enhance auditing. The findings of this study have implications for academia and practice which are aimed at technological preparedness for the transition of auditing towards CE. Finally, this paper contributes by summarizing the debate and speculations around the technologies that are driving auditing to CE.