Pedro das Neves is the CEO of IPS_Innovative Prison Systems (www.prisonsystems.eu), a research and consulting firm specializing in the modernization of criminal justice systems, particularly prison services. He is also the Executive Director of ICJS – Innovative Criminal Justice Systems Inc. and LLC, based in Canada and the USA, focused on advising, designing, integrating, and delivering innovative organizational and technological solutions for the criminal justice sector.
With over 20 years of experience in public administration reform and innovation in criminal justice systems across various countries, Pedro serves as a board member of the ICPA – International Prisons and Corrections Association (www.icpa.org); Vice-President of Health through Walls (www.healththroughwalls.org); advisory board member of BSAFE LAB at the University of Beira Interior (www.bsafe-lab.org); President of EaSI – European Association for Social Innovation (www.easi-socialinnovation.org); and board member of the Ethics and Certification Council of ACONSULTIIP – the Portuguese Association of Management, Innovation and Technology Consultants (www.aconsultiip.org). He also sits on the advisory board of the Connecting Hearts Foundation for the Children of Inmates (www.connectinghearts.eu), based in Germany, and is a founding member and Canadian ambassador of the NGO ALL4INTEGRITY (www.all4integrity.org).
He is a member of the European Commission (DG JUST) expert groups on the implementation of the European Judicial Training Strategy and the European Arrest Warrant. Pedro has contributed to multiple justice reform working groups and has been part of several UNODC (United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime) missions in Europe, Latin America, Central Asia, and the Middle East. Over the past two decades, he has been involved in the design and implementation of innovative pilot projects, many of which have been awarded and recognized as best practices.
In Latin America and the Caribbean, he collaborates with the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) on various corrections and citizen security projects in countries such as Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Ecuador, Peru, El Salvador, Guyana, the Bahamas, Uruguay, among others.
Pedro is the founder and editor of JUSTICE TRENDS Magazine (www.justice-trends.press), a publication dedicated to innovation and best practices in prison and probation systems. In 2017, he received the “ICPA Correctional Excellence Award” and, in 2021, was recognized as “Consultant of the Year 2019” by the Portuguese Association of Management, Innovation and Technology Consultants.
In recent years, he has served as a guest lecturer on “prison intelligence” for the Master’s Diploma in Strategic Management of Prison Administration and the Diploma in Strategic Management of Prison Administration, jointly organized by UNED University and Spain’s General Secretariat of Penitentiary Institutions.
In the early 2000s, he served as a regional leader of ANJE (www.anje.pt) – the National Association of Young Entrepreneurs in Lisbon – and later became the President of JCI – Junior Chamber International Portugal (www.jci.cc), a global organization of young leaders and entrepreneurs.
Pedro holds a degree in Sociology from the University of Beira Interior, an MA from the College of Europe in Bruges, Belgium, and has completed several executive education programs, including Digital Transformation (University of Virginia and MIT – Massachusetts Institute of Technology), Artificial Intelligence (University of Chicago), and Strategic Foresight for Peace and Security (Geneva Centre for Security Policy).
Pedro has participated in TEDx Lisboa (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3dke3HVtBS0) and has been featured on podcasts such as “O CEO é o Limite” by Expresso (https://expresso.pt/podcasts/o-ceo-e-o-limite/2024-07-22-pedro-neves-ceo-da-innovative-prison-systems-o-sector-prisional-nao-e-atrativo-quem-nao-se-identifica-nao-trabalha-nisto-muito-tempo-6fe97af3) and “Leaders Profile” by JUSTICE TRENDS Magazine (https://justice-trends.press/multimedia-post/leader-profile-pedro-das-neves/).
Pedro das Neves has been Portugal’s World Advisor since Maio 2025.