80 FR 76461 - Notice of Public Release of Stewardship of the National Training and Education Resource (NTER)®

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Office of Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy

Federal Register Volume 80, Issue 236 (December 9, 2015)

The Department of Energy (DOE) today gives notice to inform any interested parties that: <bullet> DOE will no longer provide financial support for development and web hosting of the National Training and Education Resource (NTER)[supreg]. <bullet> DOE is releasing stewardship of the learning management system (LMS) and content management system (CMS) of NTER[supreg] to the open source community, consistent with the original development strategy. <bullet> Parties interested in the LMS and the CMS should follow the guidance in the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION Section below.

[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 236 (Wednesday, December 9, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 76461-76462]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2015-30997]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Office of Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy


Notice of Public Release of Stewardship of the National Training 
and Education Resource (NTER)[supreg]

AGENCY: Office of Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy, Department of 
Energy (DOE)

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Energy (DOE) today gives notice to inform 
any interested parties that:
     DOE will no longer provide financial support for 
development and web hosting of the National Training and Education 
Resource (NTER)[supreg].
     DOE is releasing stewardship of the learning management 
system (LMS) and content management system (CMS) of NTER[supreg] to the 
open source community, consistent with the original development 
strategy.
     Parties interested in the LMS and the CMS should follow 
the guidance in the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION Section below.

DATES: Public release will occur on November 30, 2015.

ADDRESSES: U.S. Department of Energy, Forrestal Building, 1000 
Independence Ave. SW., Washington, DC 20585-1615, Attn: John Lushetsky.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Requests for additional information 
should be directed to: The Office of Strategic Programs, U.S. 
Department of Energy, Mailstop EE-61T, 1000 Independence Avenue SW., 
Washington, DC 20585, Attn: John Lushetsky or by email at 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)'s 
mission is to ensure America's security and prosperity by addressing 
its energy, environmental, and nuclear challenges through 
transformative science and technology solutions. DOE developed the 
National Training and Education Resource (NTER)[supreg] to provide an 
open source platform for multimedia self-paced training courses 
designed to build skills in clean energy vocations at lower costs than 
proprietary packages. NTER[supreg] primarily consists of a learning 
management system (LMS) and a content management system (CMS) that 
streamlines the delivery of training and content to stakeholders. The 
LMS and the CMS were designed to leverage open source code and open 
data, enabling educators to create content and students to take courses 
easily. These systems have offered DOE and other organizations a 
unified platform to provide state-of-the-art training. NTER[supreg] 
users have earned certifications and demonstrated competencies that 
translate directly into on-the-job performance. The highly modular 
design has allowed NTER[supreg] to be used as a stand-alone open-source 
toolkit or to be combined with proprietary third-party materials.
    Over the last several years, the open source community has 
demonstrated the ability to assume stewardship and development of the 
LMS and the CMS of NTER[supreg] to maximize the use and market adoption 
of these educational tools. Multiple organizations, with expertise in 
open source development of educational content, have incorporated and 
adapted the NTER[supreg] elements and are offering services based on 
it. DOE believes that these organizations and the open source community 
are most

[[Page 76462]]

qualified to maintain and build upon the success of the LMS and CMS of 
NTER[supreg] and will continue to provide state-of-the-art training 
platforms for educators and students.
    The LMS and CMS of NTER[supreg] can be found at the NTER[supreg] 
URL (www.nterlearning.org). The software and data are available to the 
public under an open source license and an open data license. DOE 
willno longer maintain and support the NTER[supreg] URL after April 1, 
2016. Therefore, parties interested in the LMS and CMS should visit the 
NTER[supreg] URL as soon as possible in order to download the necessary 
software and data.
    NTER[supreg] is a registered trademark of DOE. Any party who uses 
or builds upon the LMS and CMS of NTER[supreg] may disclose that its 
training platform is based upon or a derivative to the LMS and the CMS 
of NTER[supreg]. No party shall use the NTER[supreg] trademark or 
identify DOE in any manner that would cause a reasonable person to 
believe that its training platform is being offered, supported, or 
endorsed by NTER[supreg] or DOE.

    Issued in Golden, CO, on: November 30, 2015.
Stephanie Carabajal,
Contracting Officer.
[FR Doc. 2015-30997 Filed 12-8-15; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P