Ev Johnson is taking his over 35 years experience in audit, control and security matters and transforming them in some very creative and productive ways. In his position of partner at Deloitte and Touche in Wilton, Connecticut, and his role as International Director of its global enterprise risk service line, which includes computer auditing and information protection services, Ev has served many of the firm’s largest clients and made quite a number of significant contributions. He is in charge of directing the firm’s computer control and auditing research and developing state-of-the-art technical materials, software and training programs related to computer auditing, control, security and e-commerce.

A strong advocate in educating the CPA community about technology and its importance to business survival, Ev also is a key player in the creation and launch of the CPA WebTrustK assurance service. He sees technology as a great source of growing a business’ revenue, adding value to its products and services and improving productivity both at the organizational and the individual level. And he has some very progressive ideas for putting technology into action.

"Electronic commerce is one of the biggest change agents in business. Whole new businesses and new roles in business are cropping up, which present a lot of opportunities for the profession in helping clients adapt and use e-commerce, using it ourselves, and providing assurance services around it, such as the CPA WebTrustK service." Further, he says, "I think it’s critical that the CPA profession be focused on technology and its impacts, because technology is really changing the way business is done. Thanks to the Internet, many new businesses, such as Amazon.com, have come into being. And if we as CPAs are not in tune with technology and using it ourselves, we're at real risk."

Ev believes that there are many areas where CPAs can help their clients or employers address technology issues, such as coming up with the right kinds of policies and making sure that they’re being properly implemented in the organization. He says, "It’s important for CPAs to be aware of technology issues, because their clients are going to ask about them. And if CPAs are educated enough in technology to be able to work with their clients in solving the related challenges, that’s a terrific consulting opportunity."

Committed to the advancement of the profession, currently, Ev is a member of the AICPA Assurance Services Executive Committee and chairs the Institute’s Electronic Commerce Assurance Services Task Force, which created the CPA WebTrust program. He also serves as the USA representative on the International Federation of Accountants Information Technology Committee. In addition, Ev chairs Deloitte and Touche’s International Enterprise Risk Services Committee and leads its SAP auditing initiative.

In the past, he was the chair of the AICPA Information Technology Research Subcommittee and a member of the Information Technology Executive Committee. He also recently served as a member of the Information Technology and New Service Lines Subcommittees of the AICPA’s Special Committee on Assurance Services ("The Elliott Committee"), which has made recommendations for the future of the auditing profession.

Additionally, Ev previously served as National Director of the Computer Assurance Services group in the USA and as a member of Deloitte & Touche’s Management Consulting Management Committee. In 1998, Ev was named among Accounting Today’s "Top 100 Most Influential People in the Profession." Those wishing to e-mail Ev can do so at ejohnston@dttus.com.