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New HIV Atlas Generates National Attention For ROK Technologies

Submitted by: Colleen Troy on Jun 30, 2009 at 3:01 pm Tagged with: Charleston, GIS technology, HIV/AIDS Atlas Source: ROK Technologies

CHARLESTON, SC – Media outlets nationwide jumped on a major health story last week: the first-ever release of maps showing the rate of HIV/AIDS infection by U.S. county.

While experts had long seen high rates in urban centers, many were surprised to see the Southeast emerging as a major hub for HIV and AIDS.

ROK Technologies, Inc. (www.roktech.net) developed the atlas for its client, The National Minority Quality Forum, which introduced the maps last week. News spread quickly with articles in the Associated Press, CNN and elsewhere. The atlas has proven so powerful that 100,000 people visited the site (http://maphiv.org/) within 24 hours of its posting.

That’s a big reach for ROK Technologies, a boutique firm founded in Charleston, SC in 1997. ROK is presently also compiling data for the Forum to help map Type II diabetes, chronic kidney, end stage renal disease, cardiovascular disease and other illnesses.

ROK’s Mike Murphy notes, there are other Geographic Information System (GIS) companies in the industry. “But what makes us different is our ability to work as a strategic affiliate with organizations of all sizes and turn those dry, dusty data tables into something visual, and actionable.”

He said that ROK programmers work with GIS products developed by ESRI for counties and municipalities, and develop their own applications for specific client needs. The company’s clients include health organizations, private industry, public utilities and other organizations that rely on mapping data to guide strategy.