Partnership, Technology and Responsible AI at ICPA 2026

This October, the International Corrections and Prison Association will bring the global corrections community together in Belfast for its 28th Annual Conference.

Under the theme Partnerships in a Modern Corrections Landscape: Responding to Increasing Growth and Complexity, ICPA 2026 will explore how correctional services can respond to growing custodial and community-supervision populations, increasingly complex needs and risk profiles, and the operational pressures these create.

As a Major Sponsor of ICPA 2026, Unilink will be contributing to that international conversation through our partnerships with correctional services, a dedicated presentation on responsible AI adoption, and demonstrations of technology designed around the realities of modern justice environments.

Partnership in practice

Partnership is central to successful digital transformation in corrections particularly when technology needs to support complex operational environments and remain effective as those environments evolve.

At ICPA, we will share our work with the Norwegian Correctional Service, Kriminalomsorgen, as it modernises offender management across prisons and probation. U-Case.AI is currently being implemented in Norway following earlier pilot and proof-of-concept work, with the aim of keeping information connected across the offender journey from assessment and sentencing through custody, probation and reintegration.

As more organisations, professionals and systems become involved in an individual’s journey through the justice system, that continuity becomes increasingly important. Technology needs to reflect how correctional services operate in practice, while the organisations using it need to remain closely involved throughout design, implementation and change.

We are also proud to partner with the Northern Ireland Prison Service, hosts of this year’s conference. Unilink technology is supporting the digital transformation of Northern Ireland’s prisons, helping to modernise services for staff and people in custody. Bringing ICPA to Belfast provides a particularly valuable opportunity to recognise that partnership and the practical progress being made within the host jurisdiction.

Both partnerships illustrate an important principle behind this year’s conference theme: successful transformation is not achieved by introducing technology in isolation. It depends on long-term collaboration, an understanding of operational realities and the active involvement of correctional services throughout the journey.

Technology built around operational pressures

Modern correctional services face the challenge of improving safety and outcomes while managing increasing operational complexity and pressure on staff.

Technology can help by removing unnecessary administration, connecting information and giving staff better operational insight. It can also give people in custody greater responsibility for routine aspects of daily life and better access to services, family connections and opportunities that support rehabilitation.

Unilink’s technology is developed around these practical needs. From offender and case management, prisoner self-service and secure visits management to communications, safer-custody tools and operational analytics, our solutions are designed to connect people, data and processes across the correctional environment.

At ICPA, we will demonstrate how these technologies can help reduce administrative burden, improve operational visibility and support staff in making faster, better-informed decisions, while creating safer, more connected and rehabilitative environments for people in custody.

From AI adoption to operational opportunity

On Tuesday 27 October, from 10:00am to 10:45am, Unilink will present AI in Criminal Justice: From Adoption to Operational Opportunity.

The session will be led by Sam Taylor, Unilink’s AI Implementation Manager and Digital Leaders AI Business Leader of the Year 2026, together with David Purkess, Innovation Director.

Drawing on Unilink’s own AI adoption journey, Sam will explore the organisational foundations needed to move from early experimentation to confident, responsible use, from building AI literacy and staff confidence to establishing appropriate governance and security, creating safe opportunities to experiment and addressing the cultural changes that determine whether adoption succeeds.

The session will then move from organisational adoption to practical application within justice environments. Sam and David will explore how AI can address real operational challenges through capabilities including multilingual support, transcription, AI-generated summaries and natural-language reporting.

Together, these perspectives demonstrate that successful AI implementation is about more than technology. People, processes, governance and technology need to evolve together, with AI applied where it can solve genuine operational problems and deliver meaningful value.

Meet Unilink at ICPA 2026

Throughout the conference, the Unilink team will be sharing experience from digital transformation programmes across prisons and probation and demonstrating technology supporting offender management, safer and more efficient prison operations, digital self-service, secure communications and responsible AI adoption.

Join Sam Taylor and David Purkess on Tuesday 27 October, from 10:00am to 10:45am, for AI in Criminal Justice: From Adoption to Operational Opportunity.

You can also visit the Unilink stand throughout the conference to meet the team, explore our technology and talk to us about the operational and digital-transformation challenges facing your organisation.

Register for ICPA 2026 and we look forward to seeing you in Belfast.