It is known that the recidivism rate usually fluctuates between 30 and 50%, approx., in some European countries such as Germany, Romania, and Belgium, going up to 75% in the case of Portugal. Looking to offer inmates effective reintegration perspectives, digitalisation and digital self-services are one of the latest innovations in the prison context. Prison administrations’ openness towards modernisation is rather slim, but the COVID-19 pandemic acted precisely as external pressure.

 

Nonetheless, there is much to be done to thoroughly prepare the penitentiary systems to accept and successfully manage technological solutions. As such, the EU-funded DIGICOR project seeks to provide training to prison staff, enhance their digital skills, and successfully harness technology toward inmate rehabilitation. The goal of this paper is therefore to present the latest results of DIGICOR’s survey, as well as the findings of its “Prison Digitalisation Scenarios”.