Opening Catalan prisons? Assessing ‘Viu en digital!’ pilot

In May 2024, the Catalan Prison Administration established and published a National Strategy of Penitentiary Openness with the purpose of fostering re/integration (Generalitat de Catalunya, 2024). One of the 15 measures meant to be implemented is the ‘Viu en digital!’ (Ved!) project. Its general aim is to foster digital inclusion by reducing the digital divide of people with convictions.  The Ved! project has got 4 main aims: to digitally connect people deprived of their freedom with their families (MA1); to foster their self-sufficiency and autonomy (MA2); to maximize the efficiency of administrative procedures, homogenize them, make them more agile, secure and transparent (MA3), and to be a more sustainable and environmentally friendly administration (MA4). Based on multi-method research conducted in Catalan prisons one year after the start of the pilot, our paper aims to assess whether and to what extent Viu en Digital! has been successful in promoting its objectives.