U.K. Ministry of Justice chooses Juniper Networks

The U.K. Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has chosen Juniper Networks as a key networking partner in its strategic digital transformation initiatives. By leveraging a secure, cloud-managed and AI-driven network from Juniper, The MoJ can deliver exceptional wired and wireless experiences to staff and prisoners to support work, education and human connections.

The MoJ is on a journey to transform prisons in the U.K., to create institutions that are able to deliver twenty-first century penal requirements. This has meant completely overhauling ageing infrastructure, paper-based processes and staff-dependent services replacing them with digital-first, innovative prisoner-facing services, supported by modern technology infrastructure. The Ministry wanted to provide fit-for-purpose connectivity and a secure network solution for its probation sites by deploying a cloud-native, AI-driven microservices architecture. Juniper’s wired and wireless solution, driven by Mist AI, met all the requirements: delivering network visibility, automated troubleshooting and exceptional user experiences. Prisoners can now use their devices for administrative tasks that simplify day-to-day life and to access important information from their cells in support of developing greater self-confidence and improved behaviour.

More than 400 probation sites and prisons in the U.K. now use Juniper Mist™ solutions, many MoJ sites will use Juniper Mist for wired and wireless access. The prisons use Juniper access points, while probation sites use both access points and Juniper Networks™ EX-Series Switches managed via Juniper’s cloud architecture to deliver fast, reliable and continuously optimised connectivity for probation officers and other staff.

Network configuration, management and troubleshooting duties are streamlined with Juniper Mist Wi-Fi Assurance, Juniper Mist Wired Assurance and Marvis™ Virtual Network Assistant, all driven by Mist AI. These cloud services work together to remotely and proactively solve wireless and wired network issues before they impact the user experience.

Granular policy control enables The MoJ’s IT staff to give prisoners controlled access to the internet from their designated devices. For instance, the IT team uses the Juniper Mist dashboard to quickly identify unapproved Wi-Fi devices connected in the prison and mitigate them immediately.