The U.S. Department of Education (the Department) is awarding this procurement of commercial services as a firm fixed price single-award Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract with two task orders. The procurement was a small-business set aside (North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code 541613) in accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Part 12 (Acquisition of Commercial Items), FAR 6.203 (Set-asides for small business concerns), and FAR Subpart 19.5 (Set-Asides for Small Business). This was a negotiated procurement, conducted in accordance with FAR Part 15 (Contract by Negotiations). Description: The purpose of this contract is to provide technical support to the Department and OCTAE in the administration of public competitions, challenges, and exploration of emerging technology through an IDIQ contract with all work being issued through firm fixed price task orders. The technical support activities are intended to provide OCTAE subject matter expertise and assistance in advancing the use and development of emerging technologies to expand the capacity of Career and Technical Education (CTE). Task orders may range from brief, urgent requests to multi-year strategic technology development projects. Work may be required to be performed under tight deadlines. The ordering period of this contract shall be sixty months. The task orders issued under this contract may involve logistical and administrative support for competitions involving software development, exploration of education technology, development and implementation of national communication strategies, review and scans of industries and labor markets, collection of new data and information, and data and policy analyses. In addition, the contract may involve all aspects of logistical and related support for conferences and meetings. This contract shall provide technical support to the Department across a wide range of subject areas related to key issues in: Challenges, competitions, and prizes Mobile software application development Two- and three- dimensional simulations Development and deployment of websites and web-based applications Software programming and interoperability standards Badges, credentials and skill certification Communication and Outreach Specific and immediate areas of interest to the Department include: Management of challenges to identify innovative simulations and mobile applications Development of software applications to assist with career exploration Exploration and analysis of interoperability standards for educational simulations Analysis of the education simulation, gaming, software, and hardware markets To accomplish this work, the contractor shall be skilled in conducting and managing multiple, simultaneous national competitions, conducting outreach, evaluating submissions, and awarding prizes. The contractor shall have expertise in understanding Federal data collection and competition policies. The contractor shall possess expertise in information technology, online communications, social media, and using crowdsourcing as a means to solve complex problems. The contractor shall be skilled at conducting all aspects of logistical planning as it relates to conferences, workshops, and media events. The contractor shall have expertise in providing technical assistance to software developers, educators, and employers on a broad range of education topics. The contractor shall have expertise related to developing and designing web-related materials. ED-VAE-14-D-0006 has a 60 month ordering period. Task Orders 0001 and 0002 each have 18 month periods of performance.