[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 37 (Friday, February 24, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 11195-11197]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-4314]


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DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS


Announcement of Competition Under the America COMPETES 
Reauthorization Act of 2011: Badges for Veterans Contest

AGENCY: Department of Veterans Affairs.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: To encourage creation of systems which help good jobs find 
Veterans and Veterans find good jobs, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs 
(VA) announces a prize contest under Section 105 of the America 
COMPETES Reauthorization Act of 2011, Public Law 111-358 (2011) (the 
``Act'').

DATES: Entries will be accepted until 5 p.m., Eastern Standard Time, 
February 27, 2012. Winners will be announced on or about March 1, 2012.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: James M. Speros, Special Assistant to 
Chief Technology Officer, Office of the Secretary, Department of 
Veterans Affairs, 810 Vermont Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20420; (202) 
461-7214. (This is not a toll-free number.) Also, see Section 6.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Veterans rejoin the civilian community with 
up-to-date, cutting edge job skills developed during training and work 
experience in their military service. These job skills are highly 
valued and desired by civilian employers. Veterans report challenges in 
``translating'' military job skills to their civilian counterparts and 
in obtaining civilian credit for military training. The easier task is 
drawing direct linkages between skills acquired in the military and the 
duties performed in civilian jobs. More challenging is obtaining 
civilian recognition of military training when formal education or 
other credential is a prerequisite for employment, self employment, or 
licensure leading to employment.
    Through the Badges for Vets Contest (``Vets Contest''), VA and its 
collaborators, the U.S. Departments of Education, Labor, and Energy, 
seek an easily understandable means to translate military training and 
experience into their civilian equivalents. The badges created under 
this system will be marketable credentials enabling employers to 
quickly identify Veterans as among the best qualified in any job 
applicant pool, or which identify Veterans as qualified to perform 
services if self-employed.
    Because a Veteran employed or self-employed in a civilian 
occupation can far more readily re-enter non-military society, Veteran 
employment is an objective of several programs administered by VA and 
its Government collaborators. The Badges for Vets Contest will advance 
the mission of VA by encouraging the development of systems which help 
good jobs find Veterans and Veterans find good jobs.
    The Vets Contest will be conducted in cooperation with the ``Badges 
for Lifelong Learning Competition'' (``Competition'') administered by 
the Humanities, Arts, Science, and Technology Advanced Collaboratory 
(HASTAC) Initiative with the support of the Mozilla Foundation and the 
McArthur Foundation, http://www.dmlcompetition.net/Competition/4/badges-competition-cfp.php. The goal of the Competition is support for 
the creation of digital tools to identify, recognize, measure, and 
account for skills, competencies, knowledge, and achievements acquired 
during the course of lifelong learning. The Mozilla Open Badge 
Infrastructure, http://openbadges.org, has been selected to enable 
interoperability and seamless collection of badges. The Vets Contest is 
described generally at http://www.dmlcompetition.net/Competition/4/badges-projects.php?id=2667.
    VA does not anticipate that it will issue badges or, except as an 
employer, actively participate in the resulting badges program. 
Instead, VA believes it can serve Veterans and employers by acting as a 
catalyst for the development of meaningful badge systems for use by 
Veterans and employers.

Contest Requirements and Rules

    1. Subject of the Contest. The goal of the Vets Contest is to 
support the development of systems that deliver real, substantial and 
sustainable benefits to employers and to Veterans by enabling employers 
to quickly identify Veterans who have military education and skills 
that meet requirements for civilian jobs, or which help Veterans who 
want to start their own business demonstrate their qualifications to 
their customers.
    2. Amount of the prize. VA will award up to $25,000 to as many as 
three entrants. VA may elect to award two additional prizes of up to 
$25,000 each.
    3. Participation in the Contest will be through the Badges for 
Lifelong Learning Competition.
    a. The Vets Contest will be administered by VA according to the 
rules and requirements posted on the Competition Web site, http://www.dmlcompetition.net/Competition/4/badges-competition-cfp.php, 
including those on the ``Terms and Conditions'' page, http://www.dmlcompetition.net/Competition/4/badges-terms-and-conditions.php#IP.
    b. The rules in this Notice supplement the rules on the Competition 
Web site. If there is any conflict between any requirement stated on 
the Competition Web site and the provisions of this Notice, the 
provisions of this Notice will govern.
    c. Important: Entries must be made through the Competition Web 
site: http://fastapps.dmlcompetition.net/user/login?url=application%2Fsubmit%2Fdmlc-4v. Before submitting an entry, 
an entrant must register for a FastApps account at http://fastapps.dmlcompetition.net/user/register. Registration for a FastApps 
account constitutes ``registration to participate in the competition'' 
required by Section 105(g)(1) of the Act.

[[Page 11196]]

    d. Entries must comply with form, content and length requirements 
set forth on the Competition Web site, including http://www.dmlcompetition.net/Competition/4/badges-stage-2.php.
    4. Basis on which a winner will be selected:
    a. An entrant must demonstrate to the satisfaction of the judges 
that the entrant's proposed badge system will deliver real, 
substantial, and sustainable benefit to both employers and Veterans by 
achieving two separate but interrelated goals. First, an entrant must 
demonstrate that a significant number of employers will accept the 
badge as a credential demonstrating occupational qualifications 
actually desired in a specific occupational area. Second, an entrant 
must demonstrate to the judges that Veterans will have clear and 
achievable pathways to acquire badges which are desired by employers. 
Entries which the judges determine do not meet these criteria will not 
be awarded a prize.
    b. Badges must address one of the following priority occupational 
areas:
     Supply Administration and Logistics, which may include 
specialties such as a supply chain procurement, automated logistics 
management, and lean Six Sigma.
     Law Enforcement, which may include specialties such as 
criminal investigation and analysis.
     Medical Care and Treatment, with specific focus on 
Physicians' Assistants.
     Motor Vehicle Operators, with specific focus on 
occupations requiring a Commercial Driver's License.
     Automotive Service and Repair, with specific focus on 
emerging technologies such as electric-drive vehicles and alternative 
fuels.
     Information Technology, including all phases of software 
development and IT project management.
    Included in these priority areas are those with the largest number 
of Military Occupational Specialty (MOS) Codes earned by recently 
discharged Veterans for specific training and experience during 
military service, as identified by Department of Defense.
    c. Badges must incorporate the Mozilla Open Badge Infrastructure, 
http://openbadges.org.
    d. When determining whether an entry meets the criteria to be 
awarded a prize and when rating and ranking multiple entries, judges 
may consider any factor mentioned on the Competition Web site and in 
addition may consider the following:
    i. Pathways to badges. In some of the priority occupational areas, 
Veterans may be able to earn digital badges designating specific 
civilian-marketable skills based solely on military training and 
experience (MTE). In these cases, judges may consider whether a 
proposed badge system can deliver value to employers and Veterans by:
     Identifying specific skills and competencies desired by 
employers;
     Verifying that Veterans can demonstrate those skills based 
on relevant MTE; or
     Awarding and validating digital badges that employers will 
recognize and Veterans can use to demonstrate job qualifications.
    Judges may also consider whether badge systems provide pathways by 
which Veterans can:
     Acquire formal civilian education or other credit based on 
their MTE;
     Acquire civilian licensure or other credential based on 
MTE; or
     A combination of the two.
    When state licensure or occupational certification is required to 
be marketable in a priority occupational area, judges may consider 
whether a badge system supports pathways by which Veterans supplement 
MTE with specific required education.
    ii. Effectiveness and Sustainability. Judges may consider whether 
the proposed badge system is likely to be effective and sustainable and 
may assess the following:
    1. Whether proposed badge systems are built on partnerships with 
organizations that:
     Are widely representative of employers who have a 
recurring need to employ individuals with skill sets in the priority 
occupational areas;
     Have--or demonstrate that they can develop--programs and 
processes that deliver validated credentials or accomplishments in the 
priority areas; and
     Can demonstrate they have or can develop:
    [cir] Programs to validly assess prior learning acquired from 
education, training or experience and particularly MTE;
    [cir] Articulation agreements with accredited institutions that 
support formal recognition of MTE through the granting of academic 
credit or satisfaction of prerequisites;
    [cir] Programs that identify additional training or experience 
required to meet essential prerequisites for occupational certification 
or licensure;
    [cir] Programs to assist Veterans to obtain financing for 
additional training or experience necessary to earn a specific badge, 
license or professional certification; or
    [cir] Programs that assure a Veteran who chooses to acquire 
additional training or experience is prepared for success when seeking 
formal occupational certification or licensure.
    2. How a program will define its success if implemented. Measures 
of success may include the number of issued badges or other 
credentials. Judges may determine that more meaningful metrics include:
     Dropout and success rates for Veterans who seek additional 
training.
     Market share of employers that accept the badge as meeting 
qualification requirements.
     The number of Veterans who are actually hired into 
positions for which a badge shows they qualify.
     Six-month retention and one-year promotion rates.
     Employer and Veteran satisfaction.
    5. Eligibility. To be eligible to participate in the Vets Contest 
and win a prize, an entrant:
    a. Must create an account on the Challenge.gov Web site by 
supplying their name and email address. Creating an account will 
constitute ``registration to participate in the competition'' as 
provided in the Act.
    b. If an individual, must be a citizen of or permanent resident of 
the United States; and if an entity, must be incorporated in and 
maintain a primary place of business in the United States.
    c. May not be a Federal entity or Federal employee acting in the 
scope of the employee's employment.
    d. Must agree to assume any and all risks and waive any claims 
against the Federal Government and its related entities (except in the 
case of willful misconduct) for any injury, death, damage, or loss of 
property, revenue or profits, whether direct, indirect, or 
consequential, arising from their participation in the Vets Contest, 
whether the injury, death, damage, or loss arises through negligence of 
otherwise. Provided, however, that participants will not be required to 
waive claims against VA arising out of the unauthorized use or 
disclosure by the agency of the intellectual property, trade secrets, 
or confidential information of the entrant.
    e. Shall be responsible for obtaining insurance to cover claims by 
any third party for death, bodily injury, or property damage or loss 
resulting from an activity carried out in connection with or 
participation in the Vets Contest.
    f. Must have complied with all requirements of this Notice and all 
requirements established by the Act.
    6. Procedures for obtaining additional information.
    a. During the period of the Vets Contest, VA will operate and 
maintain a moderated discussion board at

[[Page 11197]]

http://challenge.gov/VAi2/262-badges-for-vets to which potential 
participants or entrants may submit questions to VA.
    b. VA may choose not to respond to any question or comment or to 
delete questions or comments which it determines are not relevant to 
the competition. VA's responses to questions on the discussion board 
are not official guidance.
    c. VA will also maintain a blog on the http://challenge.gov/VAi2/262-badges-for-vets, Web site on which it may post official guidance 
related to the Vets Contest. All entrants are bound by official 
guidance on the blog which is posted prior to submission of a 
participant's entry.
    7. Intellectual Property.
    a. VA does not accept any responsibility for a registered entrant's 
lack of compliance with Intellectual Property or other Federal law. 
Entrants are subject to the Competition's Intellectual Property 
(``IP'') policies set forth on http://www.dmlcompetition.net/Competition/4/badges-terms-and-conditions.php#IP.
    b. The winner of the Vets Contest will, in consideration of the 
prize to be awarded, grant to VA a perpetual non-exclusive royalty-free 
license to use any and all intellectual property pertaining to the 
winning entry for any governmental purpose, including the right to 
permit such use by any other agency or agencies of the Federal 
Government.
    c. VA may, in its sole and exclusive discretion, choose to 
negotiate with any registered entrant to acquire a license to use any 
intellectual property developed in connection with the Vets Contest.
    8. Judges and Judging Procedures.
    a. Subject to the requirements of Public Law 111-358, Sec 24(k), 
the Director, VA Innovations Initiative, acting on behalf and with the 
authority of the Secretary of VA, will appoint one or more qualified 
individuals to act as judges of the Vets contest, and may appoint 
himself as a judge. Judges may include individuals from outside VA, 
including from the private sector and individuals nominated by the 
Competition. Judges will operate in a transparent manner.
    b. A judge may not have a personal or financial interest in, or be 
an employee, officer, director, or agent of any entity that is a 
registered entrant in the Vets Contest, and may not have a familial or 
financial relationship with an individual who is a registered entrant.
    c. Specific tasks related to the judging process may be delegated 
to VA employees or employees of a collaborating Federal agency.
    d. Judges shall have the authority to disregard any minor error in 
any entry that does not create any substantial benefit or detriment to 
any entrant.
    e. Decisions of the judges are final.
    9. Payment of Prizes, use of Prize Money and Post-Award 
Performance.
    a. Prize money will be paid in quarterly installments starting on 
or about April 1, 2012, and must be used specifically for the awarded 
project according to the budget proposed by the winning entrant.
    b. Post-award performance will be monitored by HASTAC in accordance 
with Competition rules and procedures, and payment of installments is 
contingent on (1) receipt by HASTAC's of acceptable quarterly financial 
and progress reports, (2) HASTAC's recommendation to VA that the prize 
installments be paid, and (3) VA's independent determination that 
acceptable quarterly financial and progress reports have been 
submitted.
    c. VA may elect to pay prize money directly to the winner instead 
of making payments through HASTAC. If VA elects to pay prize money 
directly, the winner will provide VA with sufficient information to 
support payment transactions in accordance with VA fiscal policy and 
the issuance of Internal Revenue Service 1099s.

    Dated: February 16, 2012.
John R. Gingrich,
Chief of Staff.
[FR Doc. 2012-4314 Filed 2-23-12; 8:45 am]
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