An AI tool to help reduce the number of prison recalls by identifying at-risk leavers took the top prize at Catch22’s GoodTech Ventures’ Justice AI Hackathon after a two-day event held earlier this month at Techspace, St Andrew Street in London.
The event, delivered by Catch22 through its GoodTech Ventures innovation programme across 15th and 16th January, saw frontline workers turn their lived experience and knowledge into practical tech that could help to innovate the justice space. Participants were tasked with designing and prototyping a digital tool that could help to make real impact, all while making systems fairer and more accessible. Teams were comprised of a mix of roles, with subject matter experts collaborating with builders and planners to develop the tools.
Over the two days, the winning team made up of Korrie Stanley, Senior Data Scientist at the Cabinet Office, and Andrew Wright, Account Director for Justice at Salesforce, developed ‘Pathway AI’, an early warning tool aiming to significantly reduce the volume of prison recalls by flagging at-risk prison leavers in need of urgent intervention. As well as reducing recalls, the tool aimed to free-up time for probation officers to focus on high-risk cases, improve data quality with real world data, and empower those who have left prison by giving them a direct channel to raise concerns and access support.
Catch22’s GoodTech Ventures partnered with Taught by Humans, Lovable, Ufi VocTech Trust, Greater London Authority, Justice AI Unit, and the Ministry of Justice to deliver the event held at the new Techspace location, in the heart of the legal district.
Other concepts developed by teams included a platform designed to better connect prisons, community organisations, and service users, as well as a tool that focused on workforce welfare by embedding justice-specific wellbeing and safety into everyday systems and workflows.
Paul Kiggell, Justice Solutions Director at Catch22, said:
“I love that we can bring together tech and ops brains to devise solutions for doing things better in the criminal justice system.
“It’s so inspiring to see these change makers knuckling down and building, and celebrating errors as part of the journey toward something brilliant.”
Titi Solarin, participant and CEO of Tailored Futures, said:
“Bringing together people from the community, criminal justice and tech spaces created an energy that was genuinely inspiring. I met some amazing people, learned from different perspectives, and connected with individuals I truly hope to stay in touch with beyond the hackathon.
“As someone with very limited technical experience, learning how to build websites and mobile apps in just two days was empowering. It was a reminder of what’s possible in the right environment.”
