The collaboration between the Belgian government & In The Pocket aims to develop a digital platform that assists the employees of the Immigration Office in coordinating and making the operation of detention centres more efficient.

Employees of the central policy of the Immigration Office will thus have smoother access to all data available from the detention centres. This will enable the Immigration Office to gain a better understanding of the current situation in the centres and adjust their policies based on well-founded and reliable data.

Nicole de Moor: "We will automate manual and time-consuming administration as much as possible. A return escort should primarily focus on returns, not on a lot of paperwork. With the new system, we will also know exactly how many vacant places are available in each centre at any given time. This will allow us to maximise the use of every space to organise forced returns."

With the new system, we will also know exactly how many vacant places are available in each centre at any given time. - Nicole De Moor, Secretary of State

For In The Pocket, this marks the first collaboration with the Belgian government. Hannes Van de Velde, Chief Product Officer at In The Pocket, sees a strong synergy between the needs of the Ministry of the Interior and the DNA of In The Pocket:

Hannes Van de Velde: "Over the past fourteen years, we have gathered a lot of experience in developing large digital products and platforms for leading companies. We are looking forward to leveraging that expertise for the government. For us, developing a digital platform is more than just a technical challenge. We use technology as a means to create value for organisations and end users. With this platform, we can clearly deliver that value, both for the employees and for the central policy."

For us, developing a digital platform is more than just a technical challenge. We use technology as a means to create value for organisations and end users. - Hannes Van de Velde, CPO

The new digital platform brings together data from the various closed centres to facilitate both the policies within the separate centres and the overarching policy. Creating such a digital platform brings various challenges, including handling sensitive or personal information.

Hannes: "Our years of experience with clients such as Payconiq by Bancontact and Itsme, and our strong focus on security, give us the know-how to develop such platforms extremely securely and reliably," Van de Velde adds.

The system for the closed detention centres is part of the overall eMigration digitalisation project that Secretary of State Nicole De Moor is rolling out for the Immigration Office, the CGRS, and the RvV. This will ultimately lead to efficiency gains across all services, resulting in faster processing of cases.