Driving Digital Transformation in Corrections: CTC2025

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The conference’s central theme, “The Smart Prison: unravelling the meaning of SMART in the context of prison and probation services”, brought together a diverse and engaged cohort of individuals and agencies, committed to exploring and sharing innovative digital solutions to address correctional challenges.

 

The event witnessed an impressive turnout of over 300 people from 50 countries. This rich diversity of perspectives spanning policy, research, corrections, and technology sectors proved crucial to the conference’s overall success.

 

Across two days, the theme of Smart Prisons evoked extensive discussions encompassing the definition of “SMART”, the multifaceted nature of interaction between public and private entities, the critical development of gender-responsive policies and navigating the future of the field.  A significant focus was also placed on the development of robust frameworks and policies to guide digital transformation, supported by compelling evidence from pilot programs and case studies.

 

Illustrating this focus, Ejo Imandeka proposed a Digital Transformation Framework specifically designed for Indonesian prisons. This framework aims to enhance correctional systems by first understanding the gaps, analysed through four lenses: people, process, technology, and organisations. Notably, the framework has been successfully piloted in Central JAVA Prisons.

 

The results, as highlighted by Ejo, indicated that “high-security prisons tend to be more digitally advanced due to stronger regulations, funding, and policies”. Conversely, the findings revealed that “in contrast, lower-security prisons, such face major challenges in governance, infrastructure, and cybersecurity”.

 

Adding a powerful dimension to the conference was the keynote address by Marcus Bullock, founder/CEO of Flickshop. Marcus, sharing his personal journey of transformation following incarceration, delivered an empowering speech on the profound impact of empathy and community engagement.

 

“The vast majority of people coming out of those cells, out of our country and yours, are walking out not realising they can be real meaningful contributors to their communities”, Marcus asserted. Further emphasising the crucial role of empathy in making a positive change, stating, "creating spaces, where we are empathetic, and thinking and feeling with people, I think is important, specifically at a conference like this."

 

This year’s Corrections and Technology Conference in Bangkok reaffirmed its significance as an imperative platform for speakers and attendees to exchange innovative technological ideas and deliberate on the implications of their implementation within the correctional space. We hope future CTC Conferences continue to drive the integration of technology within correctional and probational services towards a more sustainable and effective future.