In 2010, the CDC hired the IT solutions company TrueTandem to build a program called S3P, which was supposed to provide CDC scientists a data-sharing platform where information, project proposals and studies could be shared widely. According to a statement provided to 11Alive by CDC spokesperson Kathy Harben, the agency wasn’t aware of issues with the program until its attempted launch in January 2016. The CDC continued to fund the project through September despite the failed launch due to contractual obligations, according to Ms. Harben.
Of the nearly $15 million the agency invested in the project, $5.6 million of the funds cannot be repurposed.
“Investments in planning, prototyping, design, project management, training and other related activities will provide ongoing value,” said Ms. Harben. “For example, the IT hardware and commercial software acquired to support the system will be repurposed for other agency IT needs.”
The 11Alive investigators discovered the failed project while examining a March 2016 internal report from the CDC. In that report, agency staff categorized S3P as having “very little credibility” and “could be shut down.”
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Meanwhile, the federal agency cut $781,000 from Georgia health programs in 2016, the majority of which were to be used for HIV prevention initiatives.
Nicole Roebuck, the director of AID Atlanta, was critical of the agency. Ms. Roebuck’s HIV outreach program relies on federal dollars for 80 percent of its funding. She said funding for HIV prevention has seen significant declines in recent years. The cuts have come even though HIV rates in downtown Atlanta are comparable to those in some third-world countries.
William Perry, the founder of Georgia Ethics Watchdog, told 11Alive S3P’s failure was a “colossal waste of money.”
“They [the CDC] certainly hold accountable the groups they give grants to, so they themselves need to be held accountable and somebody needs to answer as to what happened and why and what the consequences are,” said Mr. Perry.
Ms. Harben said no one at the CDC has been disciplined for the project’s shortfall.
“CDC invests about $350 million a year in information technology and systems and has successfully developed and implemented more than 700 information systems that currently support the agency’s science, public health and business support functions,” Ms. Harben said in the statement.
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