Our Chapters – The Foundation of a Global Network

EDPAA was incorporated in the state of California in 1969. The seven founders thought forming an association was a great idea to facilitate professional development and networking among their colleagues who audited computer system controls. It was not long before this “great idea” spread. Whether you lived in Los Angeles or Chicago – or Mexico City or Sydney – you were likely to be looking for insights and camaraderie among others who were shaping the cutting edge of information systems control and audit in the 1970s, 1980s and beyond.

Los Angeles and Chicago were the first two EDPAA chapters, followed closely by chapters in Cincinnati, Utah, Washington, D.C. and Philadelphia in 1973 and 1974. These initial communities had a critical mass of auditors and were enticed by the opportunity to meet in person with their peers once a year. (The “first annual” EDPAA conference was held in 1973.)

Founded in June 1976, the Mexico and Sydney chapters were our first outside the United States. (Mexico preceded Sydney by just six days.) Costa Rica was our first chapter in the Latin America region in 1978 … the Israel chapter in the Europe region launched in 1979 … Hong Kong was the initial chapter in the Asia region (1982) … and the South Africa chapter was our first in the Africa region in 1992. Today, ISACA is 217 chapters strong on six continents.

“Chapters … have followed the same path,” the organization explained in its 25-year history, published in 1994. “Somebody knows somebody who knows somebody. Personal networks in each city are the starting point for chapter formation. Frequently, the largest companies in town have EDP auditors who have been meeting informally and are looking for a more structured basis for regular get-togethers. In other cities, it is the EDP auditors in a few of the accounting firms who know many internal EDP auditors through their firms’ client bases … The main attraction to new members is the opportunity for training for themselves and their staffs close to home.”