Frequently Asked Questions
What is Geocat?
Geocat is a transformative cloud-based geospatial infrastructure system launched by Kansas State University with funding and technical support from the Kansas Water Institute and Amazon Web Services. Built on a fully managed ArcGIS Enterprise deployment hosted on AWS, Geocat delivers scalable, high-performance, and secure GIS capabilities to educators, researchers, and outreach specialists. By enabling complex spatial modeling, collaborative workflows, and interdisciplinary research, Geocat advances the university’s land-grant mission and positions K-State as a regional leader in geospatial science and digital innovation.
Why is Geocat important now?
Now more than ever, researchers, educators, and outreach professionals rely on powerful, scalable digital infrastructure to manage and analyze complex geospatial data. Whether we’re modeling environmental change, supporting digital agriculture, or responding to natural resource challenges, the ability to store, process, and share large datasets is essential. Geocat meets that need—bringing cloud-powered GIS capabilities to our university community and enabling new forms of collaboration and discovery. It positions K-State to lead in geospatial science while fulfilling our land-grant mission in the digital age.
Who will benefit from Geocat?
Geocat is designed for everyone in our university community who uses geospatial data—from faculty and graduate researchers to undergraduate students and extension specialists. It supports interdisciplinary work in fields like water science, ecology, public health, precision agriculture, and emergency management. By lowering technical barriers and providing centralized access to advanced GIS tools, Geocat empowers users to focus on solving real-world problems instead of managing software and servers.
How does Geocat support the broader mission of Kansas State University as a land-grant institution?
As a land-grant university, we have a responsibility to conduct research that serves the public good and to share knowledge widely. Geocat directly supports that mission by enabling spatial research that informs better land, water, and community decisions. It also enhances our ability to deliver place-based insights through extension programming and applied learning opportunities. By investing in cutting-edge digital infrastructure, we’re ensuring that our students and faculty have the tools they need to make a meaningful impact across Kansas and beyond.
What role does AWS and ROK Technologies play in this project?
AWS and ROK Technologies have been essential partners in the successful deployment of the Geocat enterprise GIS system. AWS provides the cloud infrastructure that powers Geocat, offering the performance, scalability, and security needed to support demanding geospatial workflows through services like EC2, S3, FSx, and GPU-enabled Workspaces. Their technical guidance and financial support—alongside the Kansas Water Institute—enabled the design of a robust, adaptable system while eliminating the need for on-premises hardware management. Complementing this foundation, ROK Technologies delivered a fully managed ArcGIS Enterprise solution, overseeing system setup, software configuration, ongoing maintenance, and 24/7 support. Together, AWS and ROK have enabled Kansas State University to accelerate its transition to cloud GIS, ensuring a reliable and future-ready platform for research, instruction, and outreach.
What challenges led to the creation of Geocat?
Like many institutions, we faced growing demand for enterprise-level GIS tools that were both powerful and accessible. Our legacy infrastructure wasn’t built to handle today’s data volumes or support advanced applications like 3D modeling, GeoAI, or high-resolution imagery analysis. We needed a system that could scale with teaching and research needs, support interdisciplinary teams, and offer secure, reliable access from anywhere. Geocat was developed in response to those needs—with generous support from the Kansas Water Institute and AWS—to bring cloud-native, managed GIS to our entire university.
What's next for Geocat?
The launch of Geocat is just the beginning. We’re already exploring ways to expand access across regional partnerships, connect to real-time data sources, and integrate with high-performance computing for advanced modeling. We also see opportunities to support open data initiatives and provide spatial services to government and industry partners. Long term, Geocat will be a foundation for innovation—supporting everything from curriculum development to policy-relevant research across the Great Plains and beyond.