Your community must respond to COVID-19, there is no doubt about that. But we are left with understanding exactly how to respond—and respond quickly—to connect citizens with critical resources related to the emergency. For this reason, Esri has released the Coronavirus Response Hub Template, included with ArcGIS Online. This website can be deployed in under 45 seconds, and is flexible for your community to give it a personal touch (or completely customize it). Check it out in this #InAGIF!
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This template (see example) can be deployed in under 45 seconds and used as an authoritative information hub for your community.
Accessing the template is a breeze. Launch ArcGIS Online, click the app launcher, and select ArcGIS Hub. Once you are prompted, select the option for a New Site. There are many different templates that you can select from, but we are most interested in the Coronavirus Response Template in the Browse Template section.
Clicking Activate Initiative will build out the site under the URL you have specified. Please be specific when selecting a name—the name "coronavirus-hub" isn't very descriptive!
Once the initative is launched, you are free to customize it to your organization's content. Add new sections, embed maps and applications, or remove sections all together. If you would like someone to walk you through this customization process, Nick Giordano put together a guided tutorial video. The goal is to get your organization the jump-start it needed. Best of all, this is all hosted in ArcGIS Online, which can handle a massive amount of internet traffic without the cost server space.
The Esri Coronavirus Solution is a collection of apps your community can use right now. Learn how to deploy it.
Now that the hub is deployed, load it with content! To give you an advantage there, Esri has also released a series of "solutions." These are turn-key web applications that can be leveraged at the same speed at this Hub template. They allow your board of education to report school closures, your government to report facility statuses, and for everyone in the community to be aware of the latest resources available to them.
Think this is cool, but you don't work for your local government? Call them, and let them know this resource exists (and maybe that you are willing to help). An effective response is going to need all of us. If they need additional resources or access to the software, reach out to the Esri Disaster Response Program.
