Transportation Security Administration’s IdeaFactory: Crowdsourcing for a Safer America A Web–based tool that uses social media concepts to harness the “wisdom of the crowds” and expand upon the traditional suggestion box. 1

TSA wanted to bring employees together 2

Frontline employees know how to “mitigate the threat” 3

Innovation is one of TSA’s Core Values TSA is committed to doing things better, and knew the workforce could provide these answers! 4

TSA built a ground-breaking, internal social network that is the model for collaboration and transparency in the government 5  Driven from the top of the organization  Integrated Project Team  Concept to launch within 6 weeks  Teaser campaign and live webcast  Quick implementation of ideas

“Build it and they will come” philosophy doesn’t work; processes and rules of engagement were necessary 6

Like social media, IdeaFactory is not technology, it’s people! 7 Engaged Employees Optimized Processes Strategic Communications Senior Leadership

Users build solutions to problems 8

The community decides which ideas they like best, and those ideas are evaluated 9 Also, users comment on each other’s ideas, collaborating to make them better and making a connection between distant airports

Popular or “hot” ideas are elevated for evaluation 10

The dedicated members of the IdeaFactory Review Board review ideas for implementation 11

The IdeaFactory Team promotes every move we make, which keeps our process transparent 12

Program office experts respond to all evaluated ideas, whether or not they make the cut 13

TSA has four people who help put ideas into action, and keep users coming back for more Program Management Analysis, Evaluation and Process Optimization Site Moderation Communications 14

On average, 10 ideas are submitted each day, each idea receives 9 comments and 23 ratings Approximately 150 new users visit the site each week, 6,000 users visit the site each month, and 40 percent of the visitors actively contribute As of August 26, there were: 9,700 ideas 79,000 comments 275,000 ratings 27,000 users 40 + new programs IdeaFactory has definitely won the popularity contest at TSA 15

IdeaFactory is a success at TSA Employees contribute actively Provides a “voice” for employees Employees “talk”, educate and inform each other and build an online community HQ programs obtain valuable program feedback and interact with employees directly Fosters information sharing 16 “I feel empowered to improve my job.” “…gives me a look at the ‘big picture’” “ It keeps employees up to date on current issue/happenings.”

The White House named TSA IdeaFactory a model of Open Government 17

Tip #1 Don’t be afraid to start small and grow 18 Listening to the users helps build a community…

Tip #2: It’s all about balance 19 =

Tip #3: The IdeaFactory is a program, not a website 20