IT keeps prisoners behind bars

By Leon Engelbrecht, ITWeb senior writer

Johannesburg, 21 Nov 2007

The Department of Correctional Services (DCS) expects increased reliance on IT to cut violence in prisons and curb escapes.

The department`s 2006/7 annual report says the implementation of biometric system gating and the installation of CCTV cameras at about 60 of the country`s 240-odd prisons have already delivered tangible results. The DCS "is confident the situation in many centres has improved and will continue to improve".

The report says the IT implementation was supported by the introduction of a minimum security standards policy, the training of officials and acting against corrupt officials.

The upgrades were done by Sondolo IT, part of the R1.6 billion unlisted Bosasa Group of companies, led by CEO Gavin Watson.

That project cost R88 million and consists of biometric access control, turnstile gates, metal detectors, scanners and closed-circuit television, coupled to a series of local, regional and national control centres manned by Sondolo and DCS personnel. These ensure systems are not bypassed.

The report says the project is being taken forward in the current financial year, with the installation of security fences with motion detection and CCTV coverage at 47 prisons.

"This is a two year contract... and will further increase the department`s capability to prevent escapes from correctional centres," the report reads.

Also on the cards, in terms of a briefing to Parliament last week, is electronic inmate tracking technology and the increased use of video conferencing to postpone cases of prisoners awaiting trial.

Under this programme, the DCS will also for the first time build up a photographic library of prisoners. This will match photos with a name so that police immediately have a photograph of escapees. Up to now, the department has refused to implement this basic safeguard on grounds of excessive cost.

Back office

<B>Department of Correctional Services MISP project update:</B>

* Vuselela - Upgrades to a management information system.
* The remand detainee and offender management system project was initiated and a project team and steering committee established. This system will replace the current offender management systems.
* The integrated corporate services system was initiated; the user requirements specification for phase one, as well as phase one system testing, was completed. Phase two: envisioning and planning process for human resource service benefit models was completed.
* Work commenced on the electronic document and records management system, with the scoping exercise reaching near completion. The project is geared towards the tracking of documents and the management of executive decisions.
* The integrated legal services project: phase one - (DIU) is complete. Phase two (code enforcement) - the user requirements and project charter were completed, as well as interfaces to external law enforcement agents.
* The inmate tracking system evaluation process was completed and an evaluation report submitted to the EMC.
* The security project (firewall and anti-virus) was completed.
* Disaster recovery plan project (DRP) - hardware and software were procured and the entire MS Exchange data was replicated to the disaster recovery site. Management information system data was also replicated to the DRP site.
* The printing strategy project - installation of hardware was completed. This will contribute to a reduction of paper utilisation and printing costs.
* IT performance and capacity management solution - IT infrastructure resource management and IT service level management automation completed.
* Data backup project - national roll-out of data backup units to eliminate manual intervention, improve data integrity and providing centralised backups, reporting and administration were completed.
* Identity management project - project team established, business case approved, order raised with SITA.
Source: DCS 2006/7 annual report

When still head of Novell SA, Stafford Masie noted the DCS kept well over 20 different files on each prisoner, nearly all paper-based or on standalone computers.

The annual report says the DCS has, as a high priority, "accessible information in appropriate form for various role players in the DCS" allowing for "information-driven decision-making and effective control of record management".

Diverse IT improvements include the refinement of all IT policies and procedures, and the establishment of a basic capability maturity framework model aligned with the department`s control objectives for information and related technologies (COBIT) methodology.

"A service improvement plan was compiled and is ready for implementation. The ICT policy was approved and a number of procedures approved by the Information Systems Board (ISB). An IT project management methodology aligned with the Project Management Body of Knowledge framework was developed and implemented." A Microsoft solution framework was adopted for infrastructure-related project management.

A solution delivery framework was developed and approved by the ISB in anticipation of the implementation of the master information systems plan (MISP). "The framework will ensure systems are developed in line with business requirements and through best practice."

The report notes that the MISP was completed in July 2006 and approved by "the executive management".

"An MISP roadmap was developed and the GITO operational plan aligned to the roadmap." The report then updates on progress with a series of projects emanating from the MISP.

Improvements to the DCS human resource system included a pilot biometric access system to the government payroll system, Persal.