IdeaFactory webinar:
There is a comprehensive webinar posted at GSA.gov that for additional information. » Visit and view the IdeaFactory webinar.

IdeaFactory is a Web-based tool that empowers all TSA employees to:

• submit ideas,
• provide comments on how to improve new concepts, and
• rate ideas that should be recommended for implementation

It uses social media concepts to harness the “wisdom of the crowds” and expand upon the traditional suggestion box.

This information is then elevated to program managers and Senior Leaders to provide them with not only an opportunity to implement ideas that will positively impact TSA’s mission, but gives them an unfiltered glimpse into the needs and opinions of 60,000+ TSA employees.

IdeaFactory’s integration into TSA’s culture and business processes continues to evolve even after its launch in 2007 and is just one part of TSA’s overall communications and transparency strategy, while also addressing innovation as one of TSA’s core values.

Providing the workforce with involvement in operational decision making has changed the way TSA does business.  The program was launched in April 2007 to address three key needs at TSA:

• How TSA could engage employees and ensure that every member of its large workforce at more than 450 airports and other locations could communicate with headquarters;
• How TSA could collect constant, fresh input and perspectives on improvements to keep the agency flexible and effectively mitigate security threats; and
• How TSA could disseminate information about new and existing programs, initiatives, and policies to front-line employees and provide a forum for communication between employees.

IdeaFactory Today

After the first year of implementation, The IdeaFactory Team worked on solidifying a strategic plan for the program. IdeaFactory’s vision is to support TSA’s mission by fostering a community that engages employees and encourages collaboration to initiative innovation. The strategic plan also identified three key goals:

• Support innovation as a TSA core value
• Continue to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the innovation process
• Expand and evolve IdeaFactory outreach, collaboration and communication

After the initial launch period, the IdeaFactory Team enhanced functionality, reengineered the evaluation process and completely redesigned the site to increase community building efforts and make the site more user-friendly. Also, the IdeaFactory Team developed a communications strategy to meet the needs of the TSA field employees.

We have implemented more than 85 ideas through our open site, which allows employees to post ideas 24/7 to one of 17 program-specific categories, and through challenges, our periodic solicitation of ideas on a specific topic chosen by a Senior Leadership sponsor.

The IdeaFactory Community

The IdeaFactory Users

Before the launch of TSA’s IdeaFactory, and during the course of two years of operation, the IdeaFactory Team has had to evaluate and reevaluate the nature of the culture of TSA and the needs of its workforce, including conducting audience assessments, need assessments and adjusting for volume of site usage as a percentage of the entire workforce. The IdeaFactory Team conducts regular user surveys and focus groups of core users to analyze IdeaFactory users and obtain further data about usage by geographic location.
The TSA workforce is comprised of about 50,000 employees at over 450 airports and other locations. Approximately 85 percent of TSA’s workforce is stationed at non-Headquarters, field locations. These employees:

• Perform their job duties without regular access to a TSA computer, and seldom check e-mail.
• Have limited time to access TSA “extras,” such as IdeaFactory, the TSA blog or other message vehicles
• Are oversaturated with messages, which generally aren’t targeted to address specific peer groups

On average, TSA receives 300 ideas each month and each idea receives 10 comments and 25 votes on average.

TSA IdeaFactory gets more than 12,000 unique page views from employees every month, and about 5,000 every week.

Representative IdeaFactory Ideas