ABSTRACT
This study aims to examine how public sector auditors leverage the affordances of digital innovations for digital transformation. To answer the research question, the authors apply affordance theory to take into account the material properties of digital innovations in the public sector as well as their recursive effects on public sector auditing. The focus is on the case of local government auditing (LGA) in Norway. The authors have used purposive sampling, identified the cases of the application of digital innovations in LGA and conducted interviews with the adopters. The authors identified two instances of early leveraging of digital affordances for transforming the processes of LGA, indicating a shift in direction towards digital transformation. The study further discusses the underlying conditions that allow advantage to be taken of one or more affordances of digital innovations to transform the audit by building new audit processes or reengineering the existing processes. This study heeds the call in the literature on public sector auditing, LGA and digital affordances, by offering insights into the potential use of digital innovations for public sector auditing digital transformation.
