Reimagining Criminal Justice at the UNGA High-Level Week

On the 22nd of September 2026, International Bridges to Justice brought leaders from government, law, philanthropy and technology together in New York for “Reimagining Criminal Justice: Harnessing DPI and Al for Digital Transformation,” an affiliate session of the International Telecommunication Union and UNDP Digital@UNGA programme, with opening remarks from our Founder and CEO, Karen Tse, and moderation by Kenneth Cukier, Deputy Executive Editor of The Economist.

For 25 years, IBJ has focused on turning early access from an individual act of rescue into a reliable public service, integrating technology along the way. Our forthcoming Paper on the Digital Transformation of Criminal Justice presents a blueprint grounded in digital public infrastructure (DPI) and AI, that builds local leadership and partnerships with governments and other stakeholders to turn this into a global infrastructure.

The roundtable created a space to discuss the potential for DPI to revolutionise the criminal justice system, and ways in which DPI can be developed. Our firestarters brought energy and insight to the discussion:

Alpha Sesay, Minister of Justice of Sierra Leone
Ibrahima Guimba-Saidou, CEO of Partnership for Digital Access in Africa (PDAA)
Lindsey Crumbaugh of Co-Develop
Melvyn Lubega, Head of the Digital Services Unit for The Presidency of the Republic of South Africa
Ashutosh Chadha of Microsoft

Our guests brought their valuable perspectives and expertise to the table:

Nancy Hollander of Arshack, Hajek & Lehrman
Jamila Justine Willis of DLA Piper LLP
Samantha Cousino of Clyde & Co
Brian Oduor of Batian Peak
Wayne Chang of Spruce Systems
Andrew Heinrich of Colombia University
Allana Welch of Access Partnership
Naveen Varshan of UNDP

Following this successful event, International Bridges to Justice will continue developing its paper on the ‘Digital Transformation of Criminal Justice: From Challenges to Capabilities: Making the Case for Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) in the Criminal Justice Sector and Providing a Transformation Blueprint’. International Bridges to Justice then plans to support the development of DPI in Cambodia, showing how digital transformation of criminal justice can be done in practice.