“VBA and the Office of Information and Technology (OIT) successfully completed all necessary Information Technology (IT) updates on Oct. 31 to process education benefits in accordance with the Harry W. Colmery Veterans Educational Assistance Act of 2017.”
“The completion of IT updates means faster processing times, allowing VBA to deliver benefits more quickly to GI Bill® students. Since being signed into law on August 16, 2017, 31 education-related provisions have been implemented while making updates to IT systems. The provisions include restoration of entitlement, removal of the delimiting date to use the Post-9/11 GI Bill®, and full benefits to eligible Purple Heart recipients.”
“The implementation of the Colmery Act has been a joint undertaking across VBA and OIT, alongside partnerships with MITRE and systems integrator Accenture Federal Services.”
“’Working together as an integrated unit, the team delivered comprehensive software development, integration, testing, communications, and training to meet immediate needs,’ said Undersecretary for Benefits Paul R. Lawrence, Ph.D. ‘We are doing all this while supporting VA in its push to modernize and be #FasterBetterTogether.’”
“A lynchpin in this approach, the team utilized Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe) to collaborate across multiple systems and VA offices, resulting in improved engagement, quality and efficiency. Despite transitioning to a virtual work environment in March 2020, the team adapted quickly and continued to meet the mission leveraging the SAFe approach.”
“These updates represent important benefits changes for GI Bill® students, as the Colmery Act expands opportunities under the Post-9/11 GI Bill®…” Read the full article here.
Source: VBA completes Colmery Act IT implementation – By Terry Warren, December 4, 2020. VAntage Point.
