# Before You Start

World Bank country-level geospatial data hubs are collaborative platforms where teams reliably find, use, update, and reuse project-ready geospatial evidence. Before creating your Hub, work through these steps to ensure it meets real operational needs.

## Define Your Purpose

A Hub should solve a specific problem for your country or CMU. Start by answering:

- **What problem does this Hub solve?** (e.g., "Fragmented datasets across email, Teams, and SharePoint")
- **What decisions will it support?** (e.g., "Project teams selecting sites for interventions")
- **Who benefits?** (e.g., "CMU staff, task teams, and UN partner organizations")

```{note}
Write a one-sentence purpose statement. Example: *"This Hub provides curated, maintained geospatial data for the Nigeria CMU to support project planning, monitoring, and partner collaboration."*
```

## Know Your Users

World Bank Hubs typically serve three user types with different needs:

| User Type | Role Examples | What They Need |
|-----------|---------------|----------------|
| **Technical users** | GIS analysts, data analsyts, and quantiative economists | API access, bulk downloads, ETL pipelines, notebooks |
| **Operational users** | TTLs, project managers | Fast access to authoritative layers, minimal overhead, clear project numbers |
| **Management users** | CMU leadership, practice managers | High-level summaries, aggregated views, consistent storylines |

For each user group, consider:

- **Role**: What is their job function?
- **Goal**: What do they need to accomplish?
- **Content needs**: API access, data downloads, dashboards, summary maps?
- **Technical level**: Coding workflows or point-and-click?

## Plan Your Content

Organize your catalog around operational needs, not just data themes.

**Recommended catalog structure:**

| Category | Examples | Purpose |
|----------|----------|---------|
| **Foundational data** | Admin boundaries, settlement extents, basemaps | Core reference layers everyone needs |
| **Thematic layers** | Health, education, infrastructure, poverty, hazards | Sector-specific analysis |
| **Operational layers** | Project footprints, assessments, field validation outputs | Active project support |
| **Products** | Dashboards, apps, story maps, static exports | Ready-to-use outputs |
| **Templates** | Dashboard templates, map series, notebook pipelines | Reusable assets for rapid deployment |

**Questions to answer:**

- What content exists today in ArcGIS Online?
- What needs to be created, migrated, or linked from external sources?
- What can be shared publicly vs. organization-only vs. restricted groups?
- How often does each item need updating? Can updates be automated?

## Establish Ownership

Hubs require ongoing maintenance to stay useful. Assign clear responsibilities. Examples:

| Role | Responsibility |
|------|----------------|
| **Hub Steward** | Governance, priorities, permissions, strategic direction |
| **Data Curator** | Dataset QA, metadata standards, coordinates with CMU and GPs to curate data |

```{important}
Hubs without clear ownership become outdated quickly. In small Hubs, one person may fill multiple roles—but someone must be accountable.
```

**Maintenance cadence:**

- **Monthly:** Catalog health sweep (broken links, outdated descriptions, missing tags)
- **After major events:** Promote validated operational layers to curated sets; capture templates and lessons learned

## Plan Your Workflow

WB Hubs work best with a staging workflow between raw sources and published content:


| Stage | Purpose |
|-------|---------|
| **Working ground** | Iterative validation, multi-source reconciliation |
| **Curated catalog** | Authoritative, maintained datasets ready for use |

This intermediate layer enables real operational iteration rather than static archiving.

## Technical Requirements

Ensure you have what you need before starting.

**Required:**

- [ ] Understand country geospatial needs and main users
- [ ] Appoint appropriate point of content for hub management and development
- [ ] Content ready to publish, or a plan to create it

**Recommended:**

- [ ] Tagging standards agreed (Scorecard Outcome Areas, country/CMU identifiers)
- [ ] Stakeholder approval for data collectoin and curation
- [ ] List of initial products to be created (data explorer dashboard, etc...)

## Metadata Standards

Every item in your Hub should have:

- [ ] Clear title and description (what it is, why it matters, limitations)
- [ ] Source/provenance (system, partner, date)
- [ ] Update cadence (manual vs. automated, expected frequency)
- [ ] Geography and admin levels covered
- [ ] Tags: Scorecard Outcome Area(s), Country/CMU, `foundational_data` if applicable

For detailed tagging guidance, see the {doc}`tagging-guidelines` chapter.

## Quick Start Checklist

Use this checklist to confirm you're ready:

- [ ] Purpose statement written (1-2 sentences)
- [ ] User types identified with their specific needs
- [ ] Content inventory completed and categorized
- [ ] Hub Steward assigned
- [ ] Maintenance cadence agreed
- [ ] ArcGIS Online account access verified
- [ ] Creator license confirmed

## Next Steps

Once you've completed this planning, proceed to {doc}`sign-in` to access ArcGIS Online with your World Bank credentials.