ROLE AND USE OF TECHNOLOGIES PART FIVE Role and use of technologies The use of technology is widespread within criminal justice and prison systems. Its primary purpose is for the collation of electronic information and data systems and to strengthen security and surveillance systems. Increasingly, it is also used to enable prisoners to have contact with the outside world and to promote their rehabilitation and reintegration, although this kind of technology is still at an early stage of adoption and is often fragmented and gradual. (See Sentencing, page 13, and Contact with the outside world, page 31). Ongoing advances in technology in prisons provide much cause for optimism, but there are still significant barriers to widespread adoption, including resistance from entrenched organisational cultures, funding, infrastructure and staffing. There are also important issues to resolve with regard to ensuring security, privacy and safety, and concerns from the public that prisoners are receiving ‘preferential treatment’ in their access to technologies. The automation of trial and prisoner data is evolving; in many countries, records are still kept on paper. It is more time-consuming to enter information manually in paper records and there is a risk of errors, loss of information and corruption. Ghana announced that it would be fully automating its prisoner records system by September 2018,392 while the Singapore Prison Service aims to be paperless by 2023.393 However, the use of technology to enable efficiencies and cost-effectiveness is not without its challenges. In the UK, the court system suffered a major technology failure in January 2019 when legal practitioners were unable to access essential documents electronically, which led to the adjournment of many cases.394 The chairman of the Criminal Bar Association blamed the recent ‘savage cuts’ to the Ministry of Justice budget for this collapse in the working of the court system.395 Technology is used in many different ways to enhance security in prisons, including to block illicit mobile telephone and drone signals. The use of closed-circuit television and alarm systems is widespread and has reduced the need for staff to fulfil security duties, in theory releasing them to focus on rehabilitation work with prisoners. In Singapore, the prison authorities have piloted a system called Avatar which uses video analytics to detect ‘high intensity, erratic motions’ of prisoners.396 According to reports, the system has helped to detect the aggressive behaviour of prisoners and, as such, has allowed prison staff to intervene before the situation escalates.397 Videoconferencing and related programmes such as Skype are used in prisons to facilitate legal proceedings, family visits and, in some cases, medical consultations. Using videoconferencing technology for these purposes can reduce costs, as fewer staff are required to transport prisoners or to supervise physical visitation. The Singapore Prison Service is exploring the use of video counselling as well as a mobile application to help ex-offenders Penal Reform International and Thailand Institute of Justice | Global Prison Trends 2019 better reintegrate into society.398 In China, families can transfer funds to an electronic account that prisoners can use to purchase items.399 In New South Wales, Australia, sentenced offenders are transported to prison in trucks equipped with video screens, which allows them to watch induction videos before their arrival.400 In Morocco in 2018, PRI supported a project to establish a radio station in the country’s largest prison. After receiving training by professional journalists and technicians, prisoners broadcast on topics such as news, health, training opportunities, religious scholarship, moderate Islam and sport.401 Advances in technology have also provided prisons with new ways of delivering education programmes for prisoners. The Pretoria High Court in South Africa ruled that three prisoners who are serving life sentences and who are studying for degrees should be able to use personal computers – without modems – in their cells for as long as they are registered students.402 Universities, including the Open University in the UK, have deployed digital technology to enable their students to access learning resources more readily.403 Most widely known for its use in the video gaming world, virtual reality programming (VR) has begun to be deployed in prisons in high-income countries. In the US and New Zealand, VR is helping to prepare prisoners for life beyond the prison gates.404 In Colorado, corrections services created a three-year, virtual reality re-entry programme for juvenile prisoners | 37