Using ArcGIS Hub in Your Organization
Many higher education institutions are already using ArcGIS Hub for teaching, research, projects, or campus operations. ArcGIS Hub is a cloud-based engagement platform that lets organizations work more effectively with their communities. With ArcGIS Hub, you can create sites and pages to share your data, projects or initiatives. Take a look at this initiative created by West Chester University Geography and Planning, about their student project with the city of Malaga, Spain
Sharing content with Hub makes your website and pages look focused, easy to navigate, responsive, and effective. Check the Hub Gallery for other example sites created with Hub. Common ways people use Hub sites is to:
- Share catalogs of data as open data
- Create gallery sites (think of a gallery for your class projects)
- Create narrative/storytelling sites
- Create dashboards (e.g. performance dashboards)
- Create initiative websites to rally supporters
- Encourage action. (to sign up for something, to make a pledge, to register for an event, etc.)
ArcGIS Hub Basic License
You can start creating Hub sites right now, since the basic license level of ArcGIS Hub is already included with ArcGIS Online. Hub (basic) gives you the ability to make websites and pages and share your data either openly with the public or keep it private to your organization. Any user with at least one Creator user type and Publisher role can create Hub sites. Recommendation before jumping into ArcGIS Hub, is to ask/answer these key questions:
- What is the purpose?
- Who is your target audience(s)?
- What issues, stories or facts to raise?
- What kind of feedback do you expect (if any)?
- What is the pledge or call to action needed (if any)?
Once you have a clear idea, you can start creating your site or initiative in ArcGIS Hub.
ArcGIS Hub Premium License
If you have a plan to have a Hub site that involves community engagement, you will then need an ArcGIS Hub Premium license. Premium licenses provide an easy-to-configure community engagement platform with the ability to:
- Take surveys
- Collect feedback
- Organize events
- Gather and contribute data from followers
The Premium license will also give you access to well-curated initiative templates and provides community identities for your crowdsource followers.
ArcGIS Hub Premium License is included in the new Higher Education Institutional Site License. Contact your Esri Account Manager to request the license. You need to include your organization ArcGIS Online Subscription ID when requesting an ArcGIS Hub Premium license. One Hub Premium per one ArcGIS Online Subscription.
Visit this site to understand the differences between the Basic and Premium license levels of ArcGIS Hub.
Get Started with ArcGIS Hub
You can get started by watching the Training Seminar, Engage Your Community with ArcGIS Hub, and by reading the how to Launch a Website in Five Steps blog.
You can start using ArcGIS Hub by selecting Hub from the application switcher in ArcGIS Online
Once you get started with ArcGIS Hub, the best way to keep track of product updates, new capabilities, tips and tricks, and to see new Hub site examples is by subscribing to the ArcGIS Hub Newsletter.
And here’s a list of other helpful ArcGIS Hub resources:
- Introduction to ArcGIS Hub (video)
- Download the free ArcGIS Hub E-book
- ArcGIS Hub Site and Page Customization
- Sharing surveys and apps to teams in ArcGIS Hub (video)
- ArcGIS Hub blog topics
- ArcGIS Hub Video Playlist
When activating the premium ArcGIS Hub license, we have noticed it is common for customers to miss some important steps. We recommend you request a short, complimentary session online with an Esri Solution Engineer, email me at ckurnia@esri.com. This will help to speed up the getting started process.
There is a lot of potential using ArcGIS Hub in higher education, especially for student capstone projects that involve communities, projects in collaboration with local government and cities, or projects within the campus. That said, we are looking for more Hub sites created by higher education communities to add to the ArcGIS Hub Gallery. Send us the link to your exciting public Hub sites/initiatives to highered@esri.com.