Kristen Smith
The National Institutes of Health has awarded IdeaScale a four-year, $6 million contract for licenses to and maintenance of the company’s software to help advance collaborative research planning.
“In a tough year for federal contracts, this is a win worth celebrating,” Tim Sussman, CEO of IdeaScale, said in a recent LinkedIn post. “NIH is advancing its mission to turn insights into impact and ideas into outcomes. It is setting a model other agencies can follow.”
The Potomac Officers Club’s 2025 Healthcare Summit will convene senior government and industry leaders to discuss breakthrough innovations, IT modernization and strategies to strengthen federal healthcare and warfighter support. Register now to join the conversation.
IdeaScale provides a Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program-authorized platform designed to ensure every idea is evaluated, prioritized and connected to next steps, giving stakeholders visibility into how input influences outcomes.
The latest award builds on the company’s previous partnerships with NIH, including work with the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, where IdeaScale helped gather input from patients, caregivers, researchers and advocates; cluster and prioritize ideas with community feedback; and build research road maps that now guide funding decisions.
Through the award, NIH aims to scale the approach across additional institutes, moving research planning from a closed process to one that is transparent, inclusive and data-driven.
“This award is about more than software. It helps NIH teams close the research gap,” Sussman said in a blog IdeaScale published.
According to the CEO, IdeaScale will enable NIH teams to capture frontline perspectives and translate them into clear research priorities; accelerate progress across institutes with repeatable, collaborative models; and build road maps that link ideas to funding and measurable impact.
