The “EIGEP - European Interaction Guidelines for Education Professionals when working with Children in Juvenile Justice Learning Contexts” has been approved for funding by the European Commission.

With an overall budget of 525.000,00€, the EIGEP project focuses on reducing the disparities in the learning outcomes of the educational experience of a child within the juvenile justice, compared to the ones delivered in mass education, the project aims to:

• Improve the learning outcomes of education in juvenile settings through the development of innovative European induction tool for the initial and further training of educators teaching in juvenile justice contexts (youth detention centers, youth service centers, alternative detention, Alternative Provision schools); the development of support tools and networks to improve the availability and quality of European training offer to education & teaching professionals interested in juvenile justice as a learning context.
• Improve the management of teaching & learning professionals through measures to develop the learning dimension of the juvenile justice justice system in the partner countries and at European level. 

Project partners include:

• 
BSAFE LAB - Universidade da Beira Interior, Portugal

• IPS_Innovative Prison Systems (Qualify Just), Portugal

• CPIP - Centrul pentru Promovarea Invatarii Permanente, Romania

• NAP Romanian prison system, Romania
• 
PPCK - Psichologines Paramos lr Konsultavimo Centras, Lithuania
• 
TITAN Partnership, UK
• ABCD Community Services Ltd, UK

For further information about this project, please contact us.

The deadly attacks in Madrid (2004), London (2005), Glasgow (2007) and Stockholm (2010), followed by the foiled attempts and arrests in Copenhagen (2010) and Berlin (2011) and the recent attack in France (2015) have all contributed to move back the issue of violent extremism and “radicalisation” up on the European political agenda. Furthermore, political concerns about youth radicalization especially in Western Europe and North America gained momentum with the publication of alarmist intelligence reports and the news reports about European citizens flocking to Syria to fight, mostly alongside the Syrian opposition (Bigo, Bonelli Guittet & Ragazzi, 2014, Study for the LIBE Committee).

The need for an assessment of the threat posed by these groups is particularly clear in the recent EU Commission Declaration of January 2014 calling EUMS to increase their efforts to prevent radicalization and extremism. In the debate about radicalization and violent extremism, prisons are often described as “breeding grounds” for radicalisation. The criminologist Harvey Kushner argues that Western prisons are one of the main recruitment grounds for Al Qaeda (Kushner & Davis 2004). This should come as no surprise since prisons are ‘places of vulnerability’ that provide near-perfect conditions in which radical, religiously framed ideologies can flourish.

As many studies demonstrate, prison systems have always played an important role in the development of a militant organization’s ideology, in the recruitment of new members and in the reinforcement of the narratives of every radical movement of the modern period. However, these cases are far too often considered as evidence of prison radicalization. More cautions approaches to radicalization show a less dramatic reality: since prisons are over-crowded closed environments, radicalization may be seen as a strategy of resistance to the prison system (Khosrokhavar, 2004 ) or as a way to escape from the difficulties of prison life (Spalek and El-Hassan, 2007; Clear and Sumter, 2002, Dammer, 2002 cit. by Bigo et al., 2014), rather than as an inexorable step in a process of extremism.

The project R2PRIS - Radicalization Prevention in Prisons (2015-1-PT01-KA204-013062) has been approved for funding by the ERASMUS+ funding agency. Aligned with the current problematics of radicalization of inmates in European prisons, the R2PRIS project aims to:

1. Create awareness on the broad picture of terrorism, the mind set and narratives used by understanding a) why prisons are a breeding ground for radicalization; b) the difference between conversion, radicalization and moving to extremist views (terminology); c) the pathways and levels of radicalization, role in the network; d) recruitment tactics employed within the prison environment; e) indicators on how to identify vulnerable people at risk of radicalization;


2. Develop the tools and instruments for prison administration and line-level staff to recognize signs of radicalization at an early stage within their specific facility;

3. Provide common, consistent and effective instruments to help staff report their observations to the appropriate intelligence staff;

4. Provide model procedures for intelligence staff to vet the data they receive from prison staff and to appropriately interpret it;

5. Establish a series of training programmes and tools for all staff within a prison to respond appropriately to potential vulnerable individuals at risk of radicalization.

The consortium is composed by:
A. Research & development providers:

• BSAFE LAB / UBI University - project promotor (PT)

• IPS_Innovative Prison Systems (PT)

• CRSP Romanian Centre for Penitentiary Studies (RO)

B. Penitentiary administrations:

• NAP Romanian prison system (RO)

• Belgium prison system (BE)

• Kriminalomsorgen - Directorate of Norwegian Correctional Service, NO

• Turkish prison administration (TR)

• PDGRSP, Portugal (as associated partner)
• … and other prison systems that may want to participate.

C. Dissemination partners

• ICPA International Corrections and Prisons Association
EuroPris
• The European Organisation of Prison and Correctional Services

The kick off meeting of the R2PRIS project will take place at the Beira Interior University on the 3rd and 4th November 2015.

An open class involving partners and the academic community is foreseen.

For further information about the R2PRIS project, please contact us.

The 20th Council of Europe Conference of Directors of Prison and Probation Services will be held on 9 and 10 June 2015 in Bucharest, Romania. It will be hosted by the Romanian Prison and Probation Services.

Its topic will be: “Strategic Challenges for Prison and Probation Services”. The main aim of the Conference will be to share information and experience how to manage prisons and probation services in times of economic crisis, cuts in staff and activities, whether and how opening prisons to outside agencies, private companies, civil society and the local communities could help prepare better prisoners for release without undermining safety and security.

An important topic will also be radicalisation of detainees and the role of prison and probation services in dealing with this problem.

In the Conference will take part Directors general of the prison administration and probation services of the 47 Council of Europe member states or their high ranking representatives. Representatives of the States enjoying observer status with the Council of Europe, as well as the European Union, the UN, EuroPris and the Confederation of European Probation (CEP) will also be invited to it.

The working languages will be French, English and Russian with simultaneous interpretation.

For further info, visit the conference website

EuroPris in cooperation with ICPA and CEP will organise on 27-29th May 2015 the first Global Corrections Digital Technology Conference, ‘Technology in Corrections: Challenges for the Future’ and will be hosted by the Justice Department, Government of Catalonia.

Close to the famous Arc de Triomf and Place Catalunya, the conference venue is located at the Centre for Legal Studies and Specialised Training, in the centre of Barcelona.

The aim of this conference is to:

• Challenge the private sector to develop innovative digital solutions for use in corrections to address issues facing prisons and probation today;
• Provide networking opportunities for technology experts in the corrections arena;
• o promote the use and implementation of advanced Digital Technology Solutions in corrections.

THE PROGRAMME
The programme will be underpinned by three main themes:

1) The collaboration, knowledge and information management within the whole Lifecycle of Offender Management;
2) The collaboration and participation of the Offender throughout this Lifecycle;
3) Improving Operational and Security processes both inside and outside the prison walls.


Delegates will be welcomed to the event at our evening reception on Wednesday 27th May (starting at 1900hrs). The conference itself will comprise a number of inspiring and engaging presentations with dialogues in smaller groups from both public and private perspectives on the challenges and possible solutions of using technologies in corrections.

Over the course of the event, participants will have the opportunity to interact and contribute during the dialogue sessions and to network and discuss issues in detail. Participants will also be invited to meet and greet in our exclusive ‘marketplace’ and to learn more about some of the present offerings from leading technology providers in the field.

REGISTER
Registration and payment should be completed in advance at www.corrections-technology.com.
A special package rate for the public sector of €195 includes welcome reception, conference kit and conference sessions, coffee breaks, lunch on Thursday and Friday.

Package rate for the private sector participants is €495 and includes welcome reception, conference kit and conference sessions, coffee breaks, lunch on Thursday and Friday.

For more information email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Twitter: #correctionstech2015

WHO SHOULD ATTEND

This is an international event and experts from a wide range of backgrounds and sectors in the creation, development and the implementation of correctional technology solutions should seek to attend. This includes senior decision makers in correctional jurisdictions, heads of ICT departments, business improvement professionals, prison and probation management experts, analytical and research specialists and technology solution providers. We seek to attract a core audience of those presently working within the prison and probation sectors who are involved in the advancement of their respective jurisdictions through the implementation of digital technology initiatives. Overall we aim for this event to attract some 200 participants comprising public and private sector professionals from countries across the globe.

From the 21st to the 22nd January 2015 was held in Timisoara Penitentiary, the first meeting of the project "IDECOM - Innovation, Development and Communication for a better education in Prison Systems".

Project partners include:

- ANP National Prison Administration of Romania, prison of Timisoara, Romania
- BSAFE LAB Law enforcement, justice and public safety research and technology transfer laboratory of Beira Interior University, Portugal
- IPS_Innovative Prison Services (Qualify Just, Ltd), Portugal
- Ministerul Justitiei al Republicii Moldova, Departamentul Institutiilor Penitenciare (prison administration), Moldova
- CPIP Centrul Pentru Promovarea Invatarii Permanente, Romania
- Centrul de studii penitenciare - West University of Timisoara, Romania

- Ceza ve Tevkifevleri Genel Müdürlüğü (Turkish prison administration), Turkey
- EUROPRIS The European Organisation of Prison and Correctional Services, The Netherlands

The kick-off meeting of the project "ECOPRIS - Ecological Economics in Prison Work Administration" promoted by the BSAFE LAB of the University of Beira Interior took place in Lisbon on the 12th and 13th January 2015.

Project partners include:

- BSAFE LAB Law enforcement, justice and public safety research and technology transfer laboratory of Beira Interior University, Portugal

- IPS_Innovative Prison Services (Qualify Just, Ltd), Portugal

- DGRSP Direcção Geral da Reinserção e dos Serviços Prisionais (Portuguese probation and prison administration), Portugal

- ANP National Prison Administration of Romania, prison of Timisoara, Romania

- CPIP Centrul Pentru Promovarea Invatarii Permanente, Romania

- Centrul de studii penitenciare - West University of Timisoara, Romania

- Ceza ve Tevkifevleri Genel Müdürlüğü (Turkish prison administration), Turkey

- EUROPRIS The European Organisation of Prison and Correctional Services, The Netherlands

Click here for further information about ECOPRIS project objectives

Latin American ministers, deputy ministers and heads of prison administration signed the “San Jose Declaration on the promotion of social inclusion of persons deprived of liberty“ at the Ministerial Conference "Improving the effectiveness of correctional policies in Latin America: the effective integration of people in conflict with the law" that took place in San José, Costa Rica on the 15th and 16th December 2014.

The Ministerial Conference was organized by the Conference of Ministers of Justice of Ibero-American Countries (COMJIB) and the International Juvenile Justice Observatory (IJJO) in the framework of the EUROsocial Programme of the European Union, gathering ministers, senior officials and heads of penal institutions from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala, Panama, Dominican Republic, Uruguay and Mexico.

The objective of the forum was to compare policies and seek joint solutions to problems that have many similarities across the region. At the inaugural event, Mr Luis G Solis, the President of Costa Rica noted that "social and professional insertion policies targeting persons deprived of liberty must be seen as any other fundamental public policy such as education and health provision. "Besides our countries cannot afford to miss a single good idea and contribution, including the ones of these men, women and youth. When we talk about social insertion policies for prisoners we are also talking about democracy, fairness and mutual respect" he noted.

Cristina Ramirez Chavarría, Minister for Justice and Peace of Costa Rica, reinforced that social insertion of persons deprived of liberty is both timely and should be geared towards improving prison policies in Latin America. "Both the Ministries of Justice and penal institutions are convinced that the momentum of the policies approved facilitate the reintegration of sentenced persons, who are one of the most vulnerable," concluded the Minister.

Mr Pedro das Neves, representing both IPS_Innovative Prison Systems and the BSAFE Lab addressed the audience on "standards, adapted detention infrastructures, management and financing models" and moderated the discussion between the justice ministers and heads of prison administration from Brazil, Uruguay, El Salvador and Honduras about this critical issue in penitentiary policy.

Medicalis - 15th International Congress for Medical Students and Young Health Professionals held in Cluj Romania, from the 15th to the 18th May. Mr. Pedro das Neves presentation was part of the prison medicine conference and focused the “The young, the old and the fool (mentally ill) in prison. New challenges for prison healthcare in Europe”.

This presentation aimed to be a contribution to the discussion on the incarceration of elderly inmates, youngsters and the mentally ill; to raise awareness to the problem and foster the reflection on some changes needed in social, justice and public health policies in some EU countries.

Bringing innovation in traditional, hierarchical and complex organizations like the prison systems is not an easy process. Here innovation is often induced by the change of perception of society regarding the mission and role of the execution of sentences and rehabilitation services; by changes in regulatory frameworks; the introduction of new technologies and processes; or the integration of external services and cooperation with civil society organizations on a reciprocal relationship.

There are many challenges faced by prison systems in the “intelligent society" and that is why, we’ve invited prison systems representatives, consulting and technology-based companies, NGOs, education and training organizations and other citizens' organizations to discuss how can they can contribute to innovate in prison services.

The event, organized by IPS_Innovative Prison Systems, the BSAFE LAB and B2Citizens Association took place on January 13 at in Lisbon at the Microsoft auditorium.

Programme:

14:00 - Opening Session
- Maria João Benquerença, B2CITIzens Association and ISA group
- Pedro das Neves, Board member of the BSAFE LAB and of IPS_Innovative Prison Systems

14:40h – “Modern prison systems management: challenges and opportunities"
- Licinio Lima, Deputy director general of the General Directorate of Rehabilitation and Prison Services, Portugal
- Hans-Meurisse, President of EUROPRIS and Director General of the General Directorate of Prison Services, Belgium

- Portugal accession ceremony to EUROPRIS (Hans-Meurisse, Licinio Lima)

15:20 - Coffee break

15:40 - Round Table I: "Technology and modernization opportunities of the penitentiary systems"
Moderation: Pedro Pinto Lourenço, National Security and Public Safety, Microsoft Portugal and Nuno Garcia, visiting professor, coordinator of the UBI BSAFE LAB

Technological trends: Steven Van De Steene, ICT Director of the Belgium Penitentiary, coordinator of EUROPRIS the ICT group.

- Miguel Castelo-Branco (telemedicine and telemonitoring), President of CHCB, FCS UBI
- Maria Benquerença (energy and energy efficiency), ISA Energy
- Paulo Janeiro (mobility), Tetratab
- Miguel Sales Dias (AAL, Gamification), Microsoft Portugal
- Tiago Borges (geo-referencing, fleet management and vehicle and persons location), INOSAT Global

16:40 - Round Table II: "Training and Rehabilitation: cooperate to re-enter the twenty-first century"
Moderator: Fr. João Gonçalves, national coordinator of the prison ministry (catholic church).

- Jorge Monteiro, coordinator of the DGRSP programmes competence centre
- Ana Paula Filipe, director of the training department of IEFP (Portuguese employment services)
- Licinio Lima, deputy director general of the General Directorate of Rehabilitation and Prison Services
- Florin Lobont, Director of the Romanian Centre for Prison Studies, West University of Timisoara

17:30 - Summary of the completion of the work and closing session, Pedro das Neves

For further information about this seminar, please contact us This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

IS2you is a Portuguese technologic Startup.  Its competence on Hardware and Software (namely Multi-Robot System, Navigation and Mapping, Hardware Control, Computer Vision, Multi – Sensors Control, PCB Prototyping and Embedded Systems design and Programming) and on Software Development (Image Recognition, Artificial intelligence, .NET Development and JAVA Development (Desktop and mobile applications), IOS Development, 3D image recognition and programing and Interactive multimedia development) has already been nationally and internationally awarded.

 
With an innovative vision and a strong focus on entrepreneurship, the solutions developed by IS2you target society and the problems of citizens, following a logic that seeks to unite the technological knowledge and liability in the construction of a common path toward integration and improved quality of life.

Bob Goble is Executive Vice President and founding Principal of CGL Companies.

A substantial amount of his experience has been in both local and state adult and juvenile criminal justice facilities planning. He has served as an expert witness in USA federal and state courts on behalf of both local and state governments. In addition to preparing facilities and systems plans and studies, Mr. Goble has also conducted a variety of operational and management systems evaluations and provided technical assistance and training programs for local officials, state agencies, governors and legislatures.

Prior to establishing CGL, Mr. Goble was Assistant Director of the planning division of an international consulting firm. He was responsible for managing numerous projects and coordinating the division's staff assignments. Prior to that he was a senior planner for the City of Dallas, Texas, where he directed several public facilities and services studies, public safety facilities location and concept planning, served as a Policy Review Committee member for the City's Community Renewal Program Team and worked on the Department's Special Projects Team. While in graduate school he worked as a research assistant and a graduate teaching assistant. He earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Space Planning and Design from Ohio University and a Master of Urban Planning from the University of Illinois.

Mr. Goble’s analytic, planning and technical assistance experience includes approximately 200 justice and government projects since CGL’s founding in 1975 throughout the USA and other countries:

• 11 Criminal Justice Systems Assessments, Master Plans and Studies
• 69 Jail System and Facilities Needs Assessments, Master Plans, Architectural Programs, Design Reviews and Assistance, Transition/Activation Technical Assistance
• 17 Courts Needs Assessments, Master Plans, Architectural Programs
• 16 Juvenile Courts, Detention and Corrections Needs Assessments, Facility Master Plans, Architectural Programs, Design Review and Technical Assistance
• 11 Law Enforcement Studies, Facility Master Plans and Architectural Programs
• 46 USA State Corrections/Prison System Master Plans, Facility Master Plans, Architectural Programs, Design Reviews and Assistance and Systems Technical Studies and Assessments
• 7 General Government and Institutional Facilities Planning, Master Planning, Space Planning and Programming
• 18 National Government Projects for Corrections, Courts, Security, and Mental Health Agencies in USA, Mexico, Singapore, Saudi Arabia and United Kingdom

CGL is a renowned Hunt Group company specialized in correctional facilities operational planning, design, construction project management, systems master planning, facility management and maintenance in the global corrections market for over 40 years. CGL expertise spans 19 countries, 50 states, and more than 500 counties while delivering more than 1,900 projects.  

Dynasys – Engineering and Telecommunications, S.A. is a Portuguese company, created in September de 2001 as a spin-off of SetCom Electrónica, S.A, from which inherits the experience on the way to 30 years, as developer and manufacturer of electronic based equipments, and system integrator, for the professional market.

Aiming at first the ITS industry - and consistently developing its activity in this field over the years, given a number of accomplished challenging projects - along its life time Dynasys has cumulated a wide experience in a variety of disciplines within the Electronics Engineering. This know how has not only given life to several generations of Emergency Call Boxes for the highways, as well as still and dynamic message LED panels, but also to encrypted fax machines in a project with the Portuguese Army, or the Set Top Box which was used by Cabovisão for a number of years while analogue, or has allowed Dynasys to develop and became manufacturer and one of the two suppliers to EDP, of GSM modems, used for the remote retrieval of the energy counting at their customers premises.

Due to specific needs from AENA in Spain, Dynasys developed, manufactured and supplied thousands of active RFID tags and hundreds of readers, to the Barajas airport in Madrid, for the traceability and better management of the luggage carts within the facility. This same technology has given a major contribution for the traceability of daily visitors to the new born wing, in a Portuguese Hospital, as for a number of other projects involving the need to know the whereabouts of people and assets.

Given its experience also in the industrialization of (electronic) products, Dynasys has been asked for the remaking of the electronics within equipments supplied to the international security market by Portuguese specialist companies.

The know-how and experience of Dynasys are now available for collaboration with the BSAFE LAB research teams, aiming the development of technological solutions for a more efficient management of the prison environment.

José Basílio Simões, President of ISA accepted the invitation to join the BSAFE LAB Strategic Council.

Mr. Simões, b. 1967, is President and Founder of the high-tech company ISA - Intelligent Sensing Anywhere, S.A. listed in NYSE Alternext Lisbon since 2012 (ALISA). He has grown the company from zero to 150 people and 8+ million euros turnover attracting major international customer accounts in more than 30 countries.

He coordinates the Center Business Angel Club and regularly invests in new technological startups (seed and early-stage capital).

He is also Invited Professor on Entrepreneurship and Technological Innovation at the University of Coimbra. 
He holds a PhD in Technological Physics and authored several dozens of scientific publications in international refereed journals, managed several European projects and developed and patented several innovative remote management systems in the domains of energy, utilities, environment and healthcare.

ISA - Intelligent Sensing Anywhere is an award-winning international company specializing in Internet of the Things, Smart Cities and Smart-Homes Solutions. ISA is listed in NYSE Alternext Lisbon since 2012 and a global leader in Oil & Gas monitoring market segment.

ISA recently launched 2 spin-off companies:

- ISA Energy, focused on the deployment of energy and water efficiency solutions for houses, companies and municipalities;

- ISA Intellicare, focused on the deployment of tele-monitoring and Ambient Assisted Living solutions.
Up to now, more than 1.000 buildings and 20.000 houses are being monitored by our solutions, reaching energy savings in the range of 15% to 25%.

GAIA is the Association of Electronics and Information Technologies in the Basque Country, a private and professional non-profit organisation, established in 1983, currently made up of 260 industrial members (80% SMEs, with a total of 11.000 employees) that offer products and services in the field of electronics, information technology and telecommunications.

GAIA has vast experience in the development of EU funded projects related to the development of new technologies for different fields, such as environment, health, transport, green technologies, and since almost 10 years one section of the organization has been working in the identification of knowledge, competences and skills needed for new jobs in the area of ICT, together with several organization around Europe.

Main support actions for associated SMEs are: strategic projects identification, actions between large companies and SMEs in order to foster direct subcontracting, competitive networking, actions between research entities, universities and SMEs, to have these last benefited from state-of-the-art RTD, identification of strategic technologies for SMEs in the TPs SRAs.

The Electronics, IT and Telecommunications sector in the Basque Country is one of the most important concentrations of industrial developments in the this sector in Spain.

Tiago Borges, CEO of INOSAT Global accepted the invitation to join the Strategic Council of the BSAFE LAB.

Tiago holds a Bachelor in Computer Science and an MBA (Lisbon MBA).

He is a co-founder and CEO of INOSAT Global. Tiago leads INOSAT Global Operations, having in his charge the internationalization strategy and operations management. Participates in the company administration and representation which involves direct intervention in all the company strategic decisions.

Established in 2000 by a team of experts in Telematics, INOSAT is a European based company specialized in the development, production and marketing of GPS tracking solutions, with focus in Mobility Intelligence.The Company’s offering is made up of 2 ranges of products: fleet management solutions for businesses (B2B) and GPS tracking solutions designed for consumers (B2C).

The Company reports more than 5.000 B2B customers with a number of 70.000 vehicle location units installed. INOSAT is a leading company and is present within 26 countries and 3 continents through a strategic commercial network.

Rui Pereira, chairman of OSCOT - the Public Safety, Organized Crime and Terrorism Observatory accepted the invitation to join the Strategic Council of the BSAFE LAB.

Graduated in Law and Master of Legal Studies, was an assistant at the Law Faculty of the University of Lisbon, between 1981 and 1997, where he conducted the disciplines of criminal law and criminal procedure. He was a member of the Pedagogical Council and participated in the Editorial Board of the Journal of the Faculty of Law, University of Lisbon.

He practiced law from 1983 to 1990 and directed the Litigation Department of the teachers union in Lisbon. Between 1990 and 1994 he was advisor to the Office of Judges of the Constitutional Court.

Participated since 1995 in legislative reforms involving in particular the Criminal Code, the Criminal Procedure Code and the Road Traffic Code, ensuring also the coordination of the Mission Unit for Penal Reform, between 2005 and 2007. Until taking is place as Judge of the Constitutional Court in 2007, he taught as a visiting professor in the Law School of the Universidade Nova de Lisboa, at the Lusíada University and the Higher Institute of Police Sciences and Homeland Security.

Was Director General of the Security Information Service, between 1997 and 2000.

Secretary of State for Internal Affairs of the XIV Constitutional Government led by António Guterres, was a member of the Superior Council of Public Prosecution, elected by Parliament between 2003 and 2007, and appointed Minister of Internal Affairs, in the seventeenth and eighteenth governments, led by José Socrates.

Among the remaining features played, he joined the Board of the Portuguese Philosophical Society from 1992 to 1994 and chaired the OSCOT the Public Safety, Organized Crime and Terrorism Observatory, in 2003-2007.

He is actually the chairman of OSCOT. In this context chaired the Board of Editors of the Security and Defense magazine between 2006 and 2007, and assists in Portuguese Journal of Criminal Science.

João Couto, General Director of Microsoft Portugal accepted the invitation to join the Strategic Council of the BSAFE LAB.

João Couto graduated in Electrical and Computers Engineering and, later, completed and MBA at Católica University, with a marketing major.
He began his professional career at TLP (Lisbon and Porto Telephones), as product manager, and, right after that, he worked, for 5 years, at Portugal Telecom group, in sells & marketing department.

Prior to joining Vodafone Group, João Couto worked for 9 years at A. T. Kearney where, as Vice President, played a key role in the worldwide leadership in the areas of telecommunications, media and technology, conducting multiple projects across several countries in Europe, Latin America and Africa, in a diverse array of industries such as telecommunications, banking, retail and public administration.

Between 2008 and 2010, he worked at Vodafone Portugal, as Chief Financial Officer (CFO) and as a administration council member, leading a team of 200 employees and, additionally, between 2009 and 2010, was the president of APRITEL, Portuguese Association for Telecommunications Carrier.

In 2011, he became the CFO of the "Group Commercial", in the United Kingdom. In this role, he was responsible for supporting the development of new offers for the consumer market, corporate and large multinationals, worldwide, cordinating a team of over 3000 employees, a revenue of 3 billion Euros and 1 billion Euros for investment. In addition, João Couto also served as Chairman and Director of several holdings in Vodafone group.

Since February 2013, as the general manager of Microsoft Portugal, commented: "For me, becoming the general manager of Microsoft is an irresistible challenge and a great reason to return to my homeland. To continue the excellent work that has been done in the recent years, in a particularly difficult context which I am aware of, to contribute to he development of new areas such as cloud computing, besides the solutions that it present to refine the management processes, these are strong reasons to make me embrace this new phase of my professional career". And adds "I am happy to return to Portugal and for the opportunity to be closer to our clients, partners and, as a result, to help the growth of this country. Furthermore, it is an honor to lead such a great affiliate like Microsoft Portugal, renowed, both internally and externally, by its innovative, distinctive and highly motivating character that brings the best out of its people.

Mr. Pedro das Neves, board member at IPS and member of the executive board of the BSAFE LAB will be present at the Conference of Ministers “Improving penitentiary policies in Latin America: the reinsertion of persons in conflict with the law” that will take place in Costa Rica on the 15th and 16th December 2014.

Mr. das Neves will address the audience on the need for “a new model for the future: standards, adapted infrastructures, financing and communication”.

At the conference, organized by the Conference of Ministers of Justice of the Ibero-american countries (COMJIB) and the International Observatory of Juvenile Justice (OIJJ) - in the framework of the EUROsociAL - Regional Programme for social cohesion of Latin America - will participate the ministers of justice and interior and general directors of penitentiary systems of Latin American countries.

The 2^nd Call for Entrepreneurial Research Initiatives (ERIs) of the CMU Portugal Program, funded by the Portuguese Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT), will be open until December 16, 2014. Approximately up to 5.2 Million euros are expected to be available to support the new ERIs starting in 2015.

The proposals must have at least two partner Portuguese research institutions, belonging to distinct higher education institutions, their institutes and research centers, from different Portuguese Universities, and at least one company. CMU is a required partner in research and education.

Proposals and Level of Funding

Four to seven Entrepreneurial Research Initiatives are expected to be funded. The maximum budget for Portuguese research institutions in each project will be € 650,000.00. The dual degree Ph.D. positions to be associated with each ERI will be awarded through future CMU Portugal Program Calls for Applications for Doctoral Program Scholarships, and accordingly, on the Portugal side, they will be funded directly by these future Calls for Doctoral Scholarships and not through the ERI budget. The announcement will be made on the FCT’s website. 

Duration

A typical proposal should cover efforts for a period of up to four years.

Contact:  This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . 

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CMU is organizing a set of Information Sessions in Portuguese universities, as well as at Carnegie Mellon University, to present and discuss the goals, structure, and financial support for the ERIs. The target audience for these meetings includes faculty members, researchers, doctoral students, senior staff of innovation and entrepreneurship support organizations, business executives, and startup managers. More information available at here.

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The information on this page does not replace or override any requirements set forth in the Regulations or the Announcement of the Call for Proposals. 

The MyComPass conference “Unlock your potential with key competences" took place in Kaunas, Lithuania on 3rd October 2014. 

Over the last two years, partners from the MyCompass project have experienced the powerful potential of putting to good use the key competencies.

5 learning communities from Portugal, Romania, Cyprus, Lithuania, and Malta have been involved in testing and piloting a number of straightforward tools that help a teacher embed key competencies in every day work.

MyComPass learning communities have been developed around youngsters from the juvenile justice and social support areas, with direct involvement of general education schools.

Results, challenges and plans were presented in a „open space” style conference built around a number of learning experiences moderated by members of the project team, where the MyCompass experience was used as practical example. More than 150 guests have participated in the conference.

Mr. Tiago Leitão and Mr. Pedro das Neves facilitated two workshops on “transnational project piloting – the experience of the MyComPass” project.

For further info about the MyComPass project, please visit the project website www.my-compass-project.eu 

 “CODESIP the Central American & Dominican Republic Council of Prison Administration Directors” was created in Guatemala city on September 11th 2014.

This initiative of general directors of Prison Administration - supported by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) office in the region and by SICA (Central American Integration System) - has the ambition to promote the sharing of information and best practices and support penitentiary reform in the participating countries.

Founding members of CODESIP include Panama (DG Gabriel Lombana also chairing the council for one year), Guatemala (DG Silvia Guinea Chavarría and its team will ensure the technical secretariat for 3 years), Dominican Republic (represented by DG Ysmael Paniagua and Roberto Santana, head of the Penitentiary Regional Academy) and El Salvador (represented by DG Rodil Somoza).  Other countries such as Honduras, Costa Rica, Belize and Nicaragua are expected to soon join this regional structure.

On behalf of the EU cooperation EUROSOCIAL Programme, Mr. Pedro das Neves from IPS has supported the founding meeting of CODESIP in the framework of the cooperation to develop the new penitentiary policy in Guatemala. 

IPS was represented at the final conference of the Justice Cooperation Network project held in Rostock-Warnemünde in Germany from the 3-5 September 2014.



The project JCN Justice Cooperation Network, European Treatment and Transition Management of High Risk Offenders is funded by the European Commission in the framework of the Criminal Justice Programme.

The objective of the JCN project is to develop a European network on ‎‎transition management of prisoners leaving custody, with a focus on high risk ‎offenders.
 

The Conference featured presentations on the findings from the JCN project, contributions from experts and workshop discussions. It was a valuable opportunity for networking, meeting with experts in transition management, as well as to exchange knowledge and develop partnerships.


For further information about the JCN project, please visit the JCN project website http://jcn.pixel-online.org/index.php

The project "IDECOM Innovation, Development and Communication for better staff training in Prison Systems" promoted by the National Prison Administration of Romania, prison of Timisoara, has been approved for funding by the ERASMUS + Romanian Agency. IDECOM has been ranked as #3 in the ERASMUS + romanian national ranking.

With an overall budget of approximately 300.000,00 euro, the IDECOM project aims at the development and implementation of new educational methods in the training of prison staff focusing in transversal skills.

Due to its’ special characteristics it has been acknowledged the importance to innovate training programs in the prison context. Most of the prison services are committed with this need. Some work has been carried out in different fields, but mainly in the reintegration area which than produces effects in the development of alternative and innovative programs for offenders.

The investment in multidisciplinary training, i.e., involving different prison staff, including guards (officers), administrative staff, psychologists, social reintegration staff, in transversal skills training actions, such as innovation and entrepreneurship, communication and teamwork, and ICT is quite new. Specific training, especially for administrative and security staff, can increase the pace of innovative educational programs introduction reinforcing and complementing actions currently in effect.

Project partners include:

• ANP National Prison Administration of Romania, prison of Timisoara, Romania
• BSAFE LAB | Beira Interior University, Portugal
• IPS_Innovative Prison Services (Qualify Just, Ltd), Portugal

• Ministerul Justitiei al Republicii Moldova, Departamentul Institutiilor Penitenciare (prison administration), Moldova
• CPIP Centrul Pentru Promovarea Invatarii Permanente, Romania
• Centrul de studii penitenciare - West University of Timisoara, Romania
• Ceza ve Tevkifevleri Genel Müdürlüğü (Turkish prison administration), Turkey
• EUROPRIS The European Organisation of Prison and Correctional Services, The Netherlands

In the framework of the Itinerariul Dialog ID project, a delegation from SNLP, the National Union of Prison Workers from Romania  together with IPS_Innovative Prison Systems team visited the Sindicato Nacional do Corpo da Guarda Prisional from Portugal.

The delegation was received at DGRSP (portuguese prison administration) and had the chance to understand the specificities of the portuguese prison system and discuss the importance of social dialogue with the general director Dr. Rui Sá Gomes.

The delegation also visited GISP Intervention team, Monsanto high security penitentiary, Santa Cruz do Bispo Penitentiary in Porto and GISP Intervention team the same city in the North of Portugal.

Itinerariul Dialog ID project objectives include the delivery of a training program (negotiation/mediation) both to public administration top Management and union representatives; building up a joint social dialogue road map (immersive model) focusing on priorities and practicability of actions adapted to prisons context; the promotion of the unionization of workers; and the dissemination of outputs and achievements towards other unions & federations.

 
Partners in the project include the SNLP Sindicatul National al Lucratorilor de Penitenciare from Romania; the Administratia Nationala al Penitencialor from Romania; the Correctional Association of Professionals Union from Norway; the Norwegian Correctional Services and EPSU, the European Federation of Public Service Unions. 

The project "ECOPRIS - Ecological Economics in Prison Work Administration" promoted by the BSAFE LAB of the University of Beira Interior has been approved for funding by the ERASMUS + Portuguese National Agency.


ECOPRIS has been ranked as #1 in the ERASMUS + national ranking.

With an overall budget of approximately 342.000,00 euro, the ECOPRIS Project aims to:

1. Create 1 joint curricula (work-based VET training courses) to promote inmates reintegration - through prison work initiatives - by developing staff management skills, namely: prison work and industries awareness, marketing, management, innovation, entrepreneurship, communication, ICT , ecological economics and teamwork among prison staff;

2. Train 36 prison staff, in 3 countries, in multidisciplinary teams of 6 members (2 per country), in 3 short-term transnational training events, to develop and implement innovative „prison work” actions (engaging at least 20 inmates per country);

3. Improve community and businesses participation in staff training and inmates labour reintegration actions through the engagement of key stakeholders and experts in national seminars, validation workshops, transnational events and trainings' pilot actions.

Project partners include: 

• BSAFE LAB | Beira Interior University, Portugal
• IPS_Innovative Prison Services (Qualify Just, Ltd), Portugal

• DGRSP Direcção Geral da Reinserção e dos Serviços Prisionais (Portuguese probation and prison administration), Portugal 

• ANP National Prison Administration of Romania, prison of Timisoara, Romania
• CPIP Centrul Pentru Promovarea Invatarii Permanente, Romania
• Centrul de studii penitenciare - West University of Timisoara, Romania
• Ceza ve Tevkifevleri Genel Müdürlüğü (Turkish prison administration), Turkey
• EUROPRIS The European Organisation of Prison and Correctional Services, The Netherlands

The XVI European Prison Regime Forum (EPRF) took place in Lisbon the 20th and 21st March 2014 hosted by DGRSP, the Portuguese penitentiary and probation system.

Experts from 27 countries involved at the XVI EPRF looked at how Education Training and Employment and Vocational Education and Training are important to a successful resettlement and to reduce re-offending. The Program was composed of a mixture of keynotes, presentations, networking and workshops presented by different specialists in this field. Topics included major legislative, vocational training, operational developments, new employability arrangements, for post release placement of prisoners research papers, new labour market opportunities.

 According to Mr. Jorge Monteiro* (on the left in the photo), head of the projects and programs management of DGRSP, this meeting brought together heads of prison regime in correctional services in Europe and aimed to discuss current issues on social rehabilitation and reintegration of prisoners. "In Portugal, we have the opportunity to discuss the National Plan for Rehabilitation and Reintegration of Inmates, approved recently by the council of ministers and that includes "more than 96 concrete measures to modernize and make the system more effective and efficient especially in its goal of preventing recidivism."

Mr. Tiago Leitão and Pedro das Neves from IPS_Innovative Prison Systems participated in the event providing their contributions on the "involvement of enterprises and entrepreneurs" and the models for "structuring of prison work and industries at national level and in the European context".

Click here to download the EPRF 2014 Summary Report.  

*according to Lusa

In cooperation with the Irish Prison Service and Northern Ireland Prison Service, the second EuroPris ICT in Prisons Workshop took place on 3rd and 4th April 2014 in Portlaoise, Ireland and focused on experts working in the ICT sector of prison and correctional services.

The workshop addressed the following topics: 

• Prisoner information management system;
• Use of Biometrics;
• Prisoner healthcare management system;
• Communications for inmates (e-mail and video);
• Use of mobile devices in prisons;
• Mobility, the next step: where mobility meets the custodial environment;
• Family visits by video conferencing.

With the workshop EuroPris brought together over 60 ICT prison professionals from 23 European countries, to exchange information, knowledge, best practice and build a network.

The European Organisation of Prison and Correctional Services (EuroPris) is a non-political, non-governmental organisation that was initiated in late 2010, founded in 2011 and officially registered in The Netherlands in December 2011. The initiative to establish the organisation was taken during the Swedish Presidency of the EU in 2009 and was taken forward by the European countries of the International Roundtable for Correctional Excellence.

EuroPris speaks for the views of prison practitioners in Europe. Its membership is limited to the national prison authorities of the European Union (including devolved authorities). Affiliation with the organisation is open to all other European jurisdictions.

EuroPris brings together practitioners in the prisons’ arena with the specific intention of promoting ethical and rights-based imprisonment, exchanging information and providing expert assistance to support this agenda. The organisation exists to improve co-operation among European Prison and Correctional Services, with the aim of improving the lives of prisoners and their families, enhancing public safety and security; reducing re-offending; and advancing professionalism in the corrections’ field.

For further info about EuroPris wwww.europris.org

The University of Beira Interior in cooperation of IPS_Innovative Prison Systems has launched the BSAFE LAB (Law enforcement, Justice and Public Safety Research and Technology Transfer Laboratory).

The BSAFE LAB is an interdisciplinary competence centre/laboratory aiming to foster and develop new research and technology transfer in the fields of law enforcement, justice and public safety in scientific areas ranging from arts & humanities, including law, history and philosophy, biological & medical sciences, physical sciences & engineering, social & behavioral sciences & education.

Its main objectives consist of fostering the advancement of knowledge and the reinforcement of SME competitiveness in the fields of law enforcement, justice and public safety through:

• the development of new research projects (involving public organisations, private sector and government agencies);
• the technical supervision of master’s and PhD thesis;
• the implementation of innovation demonstration actions (pilots) involving SME’s and public sector agencies;
• the establishment of partnerships with research and government institutions worldwide;
• providing technical assistance to third parties (companies and government agencies).

Prof. Nuno Garcia will coordinate the Executive Committee of the BSAFE LAB on behalf of the Beira Interior University.

World penitentiary data is in general widespread in different databases of different international official and research organizations.

In order to allow an integrated and comparable view of different indicators over time, IPS team created the “world prison indicators map”.

This map presents  5 out of 12 indicators namely: the “total number of prisoners”; “prisoners per 100.000 habitants”; “prison system occupancy rate”; "prisoners held untrialed per 100.000 habitants"; "juvenile prisoners per 100.000 habitants".

Users can navigate through the world map, comparing different country data comprising the period from 2003 to 2013.

To have direct access to the map, please click here

Available indicators include:
1. total number of prisoners
2. prisoners per 100.000 habitants
3. prison system capacity
4. prison system occupancy rate
5. prisoners held untrialed
6. prisoners held untrialed per 100.000 habitants
7. female prisoners
8. female prisoners per 100.000 habitants
9. juvenile prisoners
10. juvenile prisoners per 100.000 habitants
11. foreign prisoners
12. foreign prisoners per 100.000 habitants