According to Federal Computer Week, it was first put into place because there was a âcomputer drive that exposed personally identifiable information about millions of veterans and their dependentsâ in May of 2006.
It has been delayed due to the rule-making process. According the Federal Computer Week, GAO said, âVA officials estimate that, after the department addresses these comments and OMB performs another review, the final regulations could be issued in January 2011.â
The goal of the program is to âencourage the recruitment and retention of department personnel who have the information security skills necessary to meet departments requirementsâ by giving âfinancial support for education in computer science and electrical and computer engineering at accredited institutions of higher education.â
The program was placed in the Veterans Benefits, Health Care, and Information Technology Act of 2006. The program is set to end in 2017.