Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor delivers a speech during the "Smart Prison" launching ceremony at the Tai Tam Gap Correctional Institution of the Correctional Services Department on May 22, 2021. (PHOTO / HKSAR GOVERNMENT)

HONG KONG - Hong Kong has built its first "smart prison" using artificial intelligence and other modern technologies for a more efficient and humanized management.

The launching ceremony of the Tai Tam Gap Correctional Institution (TGCI) was held on Saturday in Hong Kong after the prison's conversion project was completed. 

Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor, chief executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, said the project is a milestone in Hong Kong's correctional services at the ceremony.

Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor, chief executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, said the project is a milestone in Hong Kong's correctional services

The TGCI, first put into operation in the 1980s, was a minimum security institution before the conversion project started in 2019.

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Various technologies from facial recognition and monitoring robots are applied in the daily operation of the prison. A staff electronic journal is introduced to optimize work procedures, and there is also a self-management system for prisoners.

The technologies will help enable a stabler and safer custodial environment, Lam said.

The HKSAR government believes the project of the TGCI has provided valuable experience and laid a good foundation for the long-term development of "smart prison" projects in the future.

The institution will be used for the detention of non-refoulement claimants when it resumes operation.  

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