Growing realization of the importance of information management in criminal justice led the Seventh United Nations (UN) Congress on the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders to invite interested member states to provide for measures to enhance the transfer of information within criminal justice agencies and between such agencies and the community. The UN also urged governments in the process of improving the management of criminal justice to consider the use of suitable information technology including electronic data processing. Prior to the 1990 Eighth UN Congress on the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders, an ad hoc workshop on computerization was held to develop proposals for a long-term UN computerization project plan. It was determined that projects should promote the exchange of experiences between countries, establish an international crime prevention and criminal justice information system, provide technical and staff assistance and staff training in setting up an information infrastructure, facilitate contact between member states to obtain information on systems for offense statistics and victimization data, provide information about international and regional conferences, and establish standards for compatible hardware and software. Factors important in successful computerization are discussed, along with the assessment of computerization needs. An annex illustrates the UN criminal justice information network. 9 references