SAP correcting prisoner management

The correctional system is one of the more technology-challenged sectors

in many state governments, and it was with that in mind that SAP Public

Sector and Education Inc. Thursday announced a plan to offer states an automated

system to manage prisoners.

Virginia's Department of Corrections is the first to deploy SAP's new

integrated operations management system. The OMS provides a Web-based solution

to manage information on operations ranging from initial prisoner intake

to parole and probation case management.

SAP, which partnered with KPMG Consulting LLC on the project, also will

deploy an inter-enterprise, interagency Web portal that will enable e-commerce,

messaging and the exchange of offender history information, said Tom Shirk,

president of SAP Public Sector and Education.

"The great thing about this is that it is not the creation of a new

legacy system, but part of a new product offering," Shirk said Thursday

at the company's e-government symposium in Washington, D.C. The work in

Virginia only recently got under way, but he said, "there are two or three

other states that are also very interested."

The OMS offers an opportunity for states, counties and local jurisdictions

to exchange information. The offering can aid public safety efforts through

the modernization of corrections management and tracking systems, coupled

with the integration of criminal justice information.

"SAP will enable the Virginia Department of Corrections to catapult

into the e-government world and to remain at the forefront of public safety

applications and technologies," said Bernie Hill, chief information officer

at the Virginia Department of Corrections, in a release.