This was a *Pilot* program, folks.
A *test* to see what works and what doesn't.
Instead of taking the word of an MIT pundit and mobilizing millions of dollars and hordes of people on a promise, they chose to run an experiment and get some actual factual data.
Now, they know what to look for in the next phase of developing something that actually works.
Setting up a catapult to hit the dragon with bags of gold isn't the only approach to problem solving.
(With apologies to IBM.)