The Influential Impact of Connected Technology on Society

The linchpin in a fully optimized justice system is fully empowered participants. Better outcomes for people are at the heart of what all government agencies do. No matter the stage – supervision to courts to corrections – the priority is to create a smarter, safer, and stronger community for people serving the public, people part of the justice system, and people living in society.

With people as the focus, it’s ironic (and discouraging) to see employment constraints hindering agencies. Despite a historic low unemployment rate of 3.9%, state and local governments are competing against IT and healthcare sectors, under pressure against an influx of employee retirements, and facing low labor participation rates – able bodies are simply choosing not to work.

This employment gap is resulting in a productivity challenge. How do you expand access for non-traditional case types? How do you maximize the time of clerk staff with value-driven tasks? How do you eliminate data entry or manual workflows? How do you make an impact on recidivism?

A fully optimized justice system works together at every stage, connecting people, data, and processes to create efficiencies geared toward better outcomes. It means agencies have the tools to root out challenges. It means agencies think about the justice process as a journey, an entire ecosystem unified under a single hub of information.

With that foundation, effective information-sharing through connected technology can have an influential impact on societal outcomes, and more importantly, the people of it all.

Supervision That Changes Lives

With over two million people in the criminal justice system at any given time, the U.S. has the largest incarceration population in the world. Breaking this cycle is extremely difficult.

Empowering officers with better tools has a domino effect on the support for individuals. It gives them a better chance and a more positive path toward rejoining society.

Tools that remove the administrative burden from field-based personnel, enabling them to focus on the work that matters most: providing people-centric support. Tools that minimize the effect of incarceration, like enhanced electronic monitoring solutions. Tools that drive mobility, like curfew monitoring and victim alerts. Tools that open availability, like 24/7 monitoring centers. Tools that reliably track cases and provide a more complete picture of a client’s file, so that not one person slips through the cracks.

Supervision is about changing lives. With technology as the backbone of an efficient community supervision lifecycle, agencies can empower individuals to maintain relationships and safely reintegrate back into society.

Courts That Value People

Courts are under tremendous pressure to do more with less. Citizens want quicker access and speed to justice. Digitization has empowered courts to meet this demand, from paperless activities to online payment options to mobile communication methods.

But as court staff are hitting their bandwidth, employees with years of experience are asked to work on administrative tasks just to keep the lights on, rather than strategic, valued-based initiatives to create safer, stronger communities.

This is driving conversations around new possibilities for technology to make life easier in courts. At the forefront is AI – artificial intelligence. Now, artificial may be in the name, but it’s incredibly important to recognize the purpose of AI in courts should be based on real, factual data. There should be nothing artificial about it.

AI is simple math built on probability and statistics. Document understanding and workflow processing are good examples of applying this technology to make life easier. Data feeds software robots to perform the math, so human ingenuity can focus on what matters most: empowering people.

Just like any other digital transformation, AI-enabled document understanding and workflow automation technology is a tool to boost productivity. It’s not something to replace humanity. AI can’t think or do everything on its own, but it can make life easier for routine tasks. The industry is only scratching the surface of what AI can bring to courts, let alone other areas of the justice system.

Corrections That Build Connections

Corrections requires delicacy. Jails are understaffed, overcrowded, and expensive, but still very much needed in our society. There’s a fine balance between serving justice and breaking the cycle of recidivism.

In a fully optimized justice system, correctional programs create the most influence by helping incarcerated individuals build connections before they exit jail. Not only does this make an impact on our country’s jail system – staffing, space, and costs become less of a heartburn – but it also makes a positive impact toward changing the narrative on those incarcerated. It’s an opportunity for change.

Research shows that access to resources – video visitation, commissary, and other life changing post-release services such as housing and employment – improve physical and mental health of those incarcerated. And when their health is in better shape, they are more apt to be successful once released.

Access to resources through connected corrections technology will magnify this outcome across the country.

Empowering the Public Sector to Create Smarter, Safer, and Stronger Communities

When it comes down to it, government is about people. Empowering those who serve the public. Empowering those in the system. Empowering those who live in our communities.

With effective information-sharing through connected technology, agencies can create better outcomes for all.

The Court Technology Reporter

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