The Portable Courseware Project (PORTCO) of the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) is typical of projects worldwide that require standard software interfaces. This paper articulates the strategy whereby the federal multimedia courseware initiative leverages the open systems movement and the new realities of information technology. The federal strategy is to facilitate the creation of an environment in which high quality portable courseware is available as commercial off-the-shelf products and is competitively supplied by vendors. The Request for Architecture developed cooperatively by DoD and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) will generate a portable courseware system architecture incorporating standards which meet users' needs. A computer-based interactive training applications profile must be developed which, along with the system architecture, will provide the basis for identifying needed standards. NIST will then accelerate the development of these standards through established standards forums. Five appendices provide information on Open System Environments, the Applications Portability Profile, the National Computer Systems Laboratory (NCSL) Technical Program, Key Multimedia Courseware Project Dates, and the Request for Architecture. (DB)