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Full-scale Talent Marketplaces

At EBSCOed, our mission is simple: to empower government agencies, employers, and education and training providers with the tools and resources they need to create a turnkey Talent Marketplace that works for their entire workforce ecosystem of users and contributors, including the everyday individual student and jobseeker. 

Our Commercial-off-the-Shelf (COTS) Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) Talent Marketplace solution is a digital, interconnected system of technologies that is provided via an annual subscription, blending the benefits of COTS SaaS with customized configuration and branded implementation via our industry-leading Professional Services.

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With your Talent Marketplace subscription, you will be able to create and provide a free, publicly available, branded Talent Marketplace user experience for education & training providers, employers and students/jobseekers with the following benefits included:

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  • Unlimited access, inclusion, and participation.  EBSCOed does not cap the number of students, education providers, employers, industries, pathways, data, programs, partners, etc. that can utilize and contribute to the solution enabling the most dynamic, robust, and smartest option to deliver the alignment and outcomes desired for everyone. 

  • Secure, cloud-based hosting that meets the highest standards of security, privacy, and accessibility 

  • Mobile access and compatibility  

  • Browser & device performance management 

  • Role-based permissions

  • Support of data sharing agreements and requirements with education partners 

  • Continuous feature/capability updates to support credential issuing and interoperability standards

  • Optional interoperability with PowerSchool, Banner, and Canvas 

  • Continuous feature updates to support talent marketplace workflows 

  • Continuous updating and support of the interoperability established

  • Use of proprietary AI, LLM, and ML models 

  • 99.9% uptime  

  • Custom branding, data, and program implementation services 

  • Scalable and sustainable technical infrastructure and budget 

  • Ongoing technical and customer service support 

  • Consulting on best practices:

    • Data sharing agreements 

    • Training 

    • Marketing 

    • Branding 

    • Integration and interoperability partnerships 

  • EBSCOed solution training assets 

  • Up to 40 hours of in-person and/or virtual training

Enabling Progress in Higher Ed

A unified Talent Marketplace will enable:

  • Recognition and amplification of existing programs, and management/data capture of new programs, in an integrated Credential Registry documenting Workforce Pell eligibility determinations in a scorecard managed through a quality assurance review process for configurable quorum-based committees that supports applicable criteria data capture including:

    • Occupation & sector alignment with AI-enabled O*Net data alignment

    • Credit Hours with AI-enabled calculation based on program data

    • AI-enabled high-skill designation for human review via QA review workflows (configurable threshold of skills documented on credential)

    • AI-enabled high-wage designation for human review via QA review workflows (based on BLS from O*Net)

    • AI-enabled in-demand designation for human review via QA review workflows (based on per-Marketplace definition i.e. Governor’s declaration)

    • Ability to illustrate “stackability” through EBSCOed Equivalencies, Required and Related stackable sequence visualization capabilities

    • Provider-attested completion & placement rates

  • Data-driven identification of program needs and employer demand by location to inform new program creation and digitize the employer engagement and co-design experience which will improve operational efficiency for cost savings and participation levels to ensure industry demand alignment

  • Engagement with employers via insights derived from an integrated skills-based job description generator, direct embedded feedback mechanisms and opportunity to engage employers in the quality assurance/review process

  • Integration & personalized evidence of work-based learning components into short-term postsecondary programs through ability to issue credentials for completed programs and courses, validated skillsets and work/WBL experiences

  • Visualization of insights from employer engagement and outcomes by occupation, sector and location via real-time Data Dashboard for improved reporting and data driven decision making such as where to establish new programs to service industry demand

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As a COTS solution, implementation is limited to configuration, data aggregation & population, branding and user training. With the absence of development requirements, EBSCOed Talent Marketplaces can be launched in as little as ninety (90) days from contract start, dependent on timely client participation and data provision. Ongoing continuous improvement and growth is anticipated as education & training providers, employer contributors and students/jobseekers engage with the Talent Marketplace over time.

Key Capabilities

Digital Learner Wallet with Integrated 
LER

that enables:

  • students and jobseekers to transform, transcribe, and transact earned learning, skills and work experience assertions that may be curated by students & jobseekers into interoperable individual records of achievement and AI-enabled personalized learning, career and employment recommendations

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Users transform, transcribe, and transact their skills, competencies, credentials, and experiences by:

  •  validated records from systems of record including but not limited to: SISs, LMSs, HRISs, ATSs, LER/wallet providers, badging and tracking platforms and/or secure data loads on a cadence   

  • Connecting with registered apprenticeship records  

  • Embedding badges of all open standards including OBv1, OBv2, OBv3, and CTDL  

  • Uploading LERs, PDFs, Images and Badges  

  • Linking any learning & work evidence  

  • Self-attesting Skills from the education and industry-aligned ontology   

  •  experiences from education and industry-aligned occupations   

  • Exporting EBSCOed-issued validated badges in OBv3  

  • Creating and curating skills-based resumes 

  • Exporting as PDF or CLR 2.0  

Integrated Credential Registry
 

that enables:

  • employers to transform, transcribe, and transact earned learning assertions, job descriptions, and degree and non-degree credentials into discrete competency statements through a Skills-Based Job Description generator

  • education & training providers to transform, transcribe, and transact earned learning assertions and degree and non-degree credentials into discrete competency statements through an AI-enabled parser of program information files such as course catalogs, work processes and/or program definitions with credential issuing capabilities that cover awards and assertions for skills-defined program and course completions, validated skillsets and skills-defined experiences including but not limited to work and/or work-based learning experiences

  • education & training providers to openly document and digitally evidence stackability through EBSCOed equivalencies, required and related designations on credential records that present a visualization of a credentials stackability into applicable programs, including designating equivalencies and stackability between Talent Marketplaces/EBSCOed subscribers to maximize portability of high-quality short term programs

  • interoperability between EBSCOed Talent Marketplace technologies and with third party ecosystem vendors as applicable to shared customers/subscribers to ensure optimal outcomes i.e. US Registered Apprenticeships are interoperable with EBSCOed digital learner wallets and learning & employment records as part of the SaaS subscription

Quality Assurance Committee Review 

A quorum-based QA tool that is customizable, allowing for configuration to suit at any given time during the subscription period to

  • that interoperates with the National Program Registry 

  • includes automatic inclusion of apprenticeships from the National Registry if applicable 

  • provides an automated, AI-enabled scorecard illustrating alignment between the ETP program and the Occupation associated  

  • enables review committees to be comprised of employers by sector 

  • enables reviewers to submit feedback for provider review and alignment  

  • ensures every entry includes an occupation to be associated  

  • ability to include/display annual outcomes data i.e. employment rate per provider/program 

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A Data Visualization Dashboard

that includes but is not limited to:

  • Credentials/LERs created

  • Credentials/LERs issued

  • Credentials/LERs claimed

  • Jobs created by sector and occupation

  • Recommended Candidates

  • Recommended Jobs

  • Recommended Learning

  • Recommended Career Pathways

  • Talent Pipeline by in-demand and growth sectors

  • Talent Pipeline by occupation and location

  • Insights for Education providers based on industry demand

Anticipated Results & Outcomes

include but are not limited to:

  • Measurable progress towards postsecondary education improvement, specifically supporting capacity-building for high-quality short-term programs through the creation & utilization of a Talent Marketplace

    • De-identified, aggregate data will be visualized through a modern data dashboard to enable data-driven decisions based on industry demand

  • Replicable, scalable & sustainable solution that will grow beyond short term programs, creating the opportunity to share benefits of these funds beyond the identified national needs within this program

    • Unlimited access, inclusion, and participation.  EBSCOed does not cap the number of students, education providers, employers, industries, pathways, data, programs, partners, etc. that can utilize and contribute to the solution enabling the most dynamic, robust, and smartest option to deliver the alignment and outcomes desired for everyone. 

  • Data & Industry-informed investments in program creation

    • Unified and interoperable solutions to engage employers will allow for adequate data collection to inform industry demand resulting in insights for education providers and decision makers about where programs are needed and what skills they need to generate, better serving industry/employers

  • Improved student placement outcomes as a result of better discoverability & access to high-quality short term programs, personalized recommendations based on earned credentials and validated skills & experiences, and improved program to demand alignment

  • Responsible and accurate personalized AI recommendations through the collection and curation of quality grounding data and mature, responsible, real-time AI training methodologies that will solidify our country’s position as the global leader in AI and secure a brighter future for all Americans by continuously improving our AI recommendation engine’s market understanding through active ongoing analysis of data contributed by employers, industry contributors, education & training providers as well as students and jobseekers within your talent marketplace and across all EBSCOed Talent Marketplace subscribers – resulting in unprecedented performance and real-time accuracy beyond that which is readily available online today. By enabling human quality assurance review and transparent qualification criteria such as high-wage and in-demand sector and occupation alignment, EBSCOed offers ethical AI recommendations designed to guide individuals to brighter, more prosperous and self-sufficient futures.

How we Work

Scalability to statewide needs and long-term sustainability  

  • The EBSCOed COTS solution supports statewide scalability to all users, all education & training providers, all employers, and all industries with no additional development.  Should any workflows, interoperability, and additional customization be required to scale the solution, EBSCOed’s professional service team can implement those needs upon request. 

  • As a SaaS solution, EBSCOed is continuously adapting and innovating our solution to evolve the capabilities, security, user experience, partnerships, and results that all users (students, educators, and employers) expect and need to support the aligned talent marketplace states are seeking within a predictable and sustainable budget.   

  • As a top 200, private, and family-owned company that has been operating since 1944, and is currently supporting 95% of the education institutions within the United States and across the globe, EBSCO is both foundationally and financially positioned to be a long-term partner to support the data, innovation, privacy, security, accessibility, usability, adoption, needed in a long-term solution.  EBSCO understands both the responsibility and opportunity that this aligned solution offers everyone within the workforce ecosystem.  Driving economic growth through aligned, transparent, and unified pathways and experiences, utilizing real-time and accurate data, is an initiative in which EBSCOed has been at the forefront in driving best practices and real-life deployment. 

  • EBSCOed recognizes the individual’s right of ownership to data they have claimed through our solutions.  As such, EBSCOed commits to each of its partners and customers that users will be able to maintain forever access to their claimed skills, competencies, credentials, and experiences within LER.me regardless of our contract status with each state or stakeholder. 

 

Testing and continuous improvement process: Project Health

  • On a bi-annual basis, EBSCOed experts will prepare a project health report, analyzing usage and user behavior data alongside program and demand data, identifying areas for improvement related to adoption, participation, utilization, user experience, market needs & market posture to inform the following six (6) month continuous improvement plan.

 

Testing and continuous improvement process: Platform

  • EBSCOed operates on a mature software development lifecycle (SDLC) governed by our proprietary confidential operations manual of operating procedures, policies and standards. Our continuous improvement deployment process includes several quality assurance and testing steps within the deployment workflow. Regular updates as often as weekly ensure security, optimization, performance and quality are maintained and are kept up to date as part of the subscription service.  

  • Our testing includes functional, stress, load, security, negative and ad-hoc testing. The culmination of the testing cycle is the creation of the Software Release Order – a signed document signifying that testing is complete and all stakeholders approve of deployment. 

  • EBSCOed performs exhaustive internal testing to ensure the security of our system and information. Testing is conducted during the software release process, as well as periodic penetration testing independent of software releases, not only on the layers of protection put in place, but across the data lifecycle. EBSCOed does not share test dates or results. 

  • Additionally, we ensure that data is validated and scrubbed before entry in the database. The system tests that user-entered data--and even the form fields themselves--match prescribed, expected formats and values. Tokens are injected into each form as it is generated, to protect against potential CSRF attacks. Our database abstraction layer performs additional security checks on data as it is written to and retrieved from the database. 

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Interested in applying for a new award for fiscal year (FY) 2025 for the Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education Special Projects (FIPSE), Assistance Listing Number 84.116J? Request a template application below for an EBSCOed Talent Marketplace to service National Need 4 - supporting capacity-building for high-quality short-term programs, absolute priorities 6 & 7.

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