There's a recurring fight in workforce technology. A state agency, a community college consortium, or an employer group decides to build a talent marketplace. They run an RFP. They pick a vendor. The platform launches. Then six months later, a neighboring state launches a different platform from a different vendor. An employer consortium wants to build a hiring tool that won't talk to the state's marketplace. A nonprofit serving re-entry workers wants a specialized navigator that won't talk to either. Suddenly the worker who has credentials in the state platform can't bring them to the employer's tool.
This is the same problem that retail had in 2000.
How Amazon solved retail
In 1999, the conventional wisdom was that every major retailer needed to build their own e-commerce site. Amazon did something different. It built infrastructure. The actual website (Amazon.com) was first-party. But Amazon also opened the platform to third-party sellers. Twenty-five years later, more than half of items sold on Amazon are sold by third parties. The customer doesn't care which is which — they care that the catalog is comprehensive, that checkout is fast, that returns work.
Workforce technology should work the same way.
The LER Talent Marketplace as platform infrastructure
LER.me ships seven first-party apps that EBSCOed has developed: the Credential Registry, the LER wallet, hyper-personalized recommendations, learner career services, workforce eligibility calculators, the Workforce Care Team case management system, and the Durable Skills Marketplace. These are the reference implementations. They're integrated. They're free for citizens.
But the platform is also an open infrastructure that third parties build on. State agencies build state-branded talent marketplaces using the same registry and wallet. EdTech companies build learning experience platforms that issue OBv3 credentials to LER.me wallets. Employer consortia build hiring tools. Community-based organizations build navigators tailored to specific populations. Industry associations build specialized assessment platforms.
Why open standards aren't optional
Every credential issued through any LER.me-built app is a citizen-owned, OBv3-verifiable record. The state can't lock the worker out when they move. The college can't claim the credential was issued under their proprietary format. The employer can verify it cryptographically. If a third-party app shuts down, the credentials it issued continue to work.
Where to start
If you're a state agency or large institutional buyer, the entry point is a SaaS subscription to the LER Talent Marketplace through EBSCOed. If you're a partner builder — EdTech, employer consortium, association, or CBO — talk to us about a Marketplace API agreement. We provide the infrastructure. You build the front door.
Pick your front door. They all lead to LER.me.