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posted by on Wednesday February 22 2017, @07:06PM   Printer-friendly
from the human-error dept.

According to an internal audit, mismanagement of funds and the failure to involve staff IT experts led to the termination of an IBM Watson project at a University of Texas cancer center:

According to a blistering audit by the University of Texas System, the cancer center grossly mismanaged its splashy program with IBM, which started back in 2012. The program aimed to teach Watson how to treat cancer patients and match them to clinical trials. Watson initially met goals and impressed center doctors, but the project hit the rocks as MD Anderson officials snubbed their own IT experts, mishandled about $62 million in funding, and failed to follow basic procedures for overseeing contracts and invoices, the audit concludes.

IBM pulled support for the project back in September of last year. Watson is currently prohibited from being used on patients there, and the fate of MD Anderson's partnership with IBM is in question. MD Anderson is now seeking bids from other contractors who might take IBM's place. Meanwhile, a similar project that IBM started with Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York around the same time frame has already wrapped up. It resulted in a commercial product that is currently making its way into hospitals around the world, including in [Jupiter, Florida].

[...] Lastly, auditors found that invoices were paid regardless of whether services were provided, but weren't consistently paid or paid in a timely way. Some fees were suspiciously set at rates just below the amounts that would trigger review and require approval by the Board of Regents. And, MD Anderson paid out money from donations that hadn't actually come through yet—leaving the project with an $11.59 million deficit.


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  • (Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday February 22 2017, @08:08PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday February 22 2017, @08:08PM (#470395)

    This looks like the beginning of a string of wake-up calls to tech people about medical research. I've been trying to explain to you for years, the entire thing is set up to waste as much time and money as possible without figuring anything out. Do not try to interact with them, they will only bring you down.

    Build a separate, parallel, research programme. It will easily out-compete what is currently going on.

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  • (Score: 2) by krishnoid on Wednesday February 22 2017, @10:07PM

    by krishnoid (1156) on Wednesday February 22 2017, @10:07PM (#470457)

    I've been trying to explain to you for years, the entire thing is set up to waste as much time and money as possible without figuring anything out.

    It's all a big conspiracy set up and run by the overpopulation illuminati. Don''t worry, they know what's best for us. Whoever of us remains, anyway.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 23 2017, @06:36AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 23 2017, @06:36AM (#470628)

      It's all a big conspiracy

      nope

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday February 22 2017, @10:27PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday February 22 2017, @10:27PM (#470469)

    Yes, a vast conspiracy to prevent the advancement of medical knowledge... Or as some like to call it, bureaucracy! Now go feed the leopard!!