Case Study: United States Coast Guard boosts idea submissions 90% and fast-tracks hurricane lessons into action with IdeaScale

United States Coast Guard Sharing Ideas that Are Vital to Victims and Respondents

The United States Coast Guard (USCG) needed a faster, more transparent way to capture and institutionalize lessons learned from major contingency events — a problem exposed during past incidents like Deepwater Horizon and Superstorm Sandy where vital safety improvements were not implemented. To foster continuous innovation across ranks and geographies, the USCG launched CG_Ideas@Work, a crowdsourcing platform built on IdeaScale, and used it during the 2017 hurricane season to surface frontline challenges and improvement ideas in real time.

Using a staged moderation process and a targeted "Hurricane Lessons Learned" campaign on CG_Ideas@Work, the Coast Guard rapidly captured, refined and prioritized ideas (many moved directly into the annual R&D submission process). The approach shortened a year‑long cycle to months, prompted leadership adjudication to institutionalize changes, and led to concrete shifts such as exploring social media for distress reporting. The campaign drove a 90% increase in idea submissions and a 190% rise in registered users, with top concepts like the "Asset Lay-Down and Tasking System" advancing for implementation.

United States Coast Guard

Andy Howell

Coast Guard Commander and former Innovation Officer