 The distributed system of scientific collections, DSSCO, is a new world-class research infrastructure, RI, for natural science collections that aims to create a new business model for one European collection by digitally unifying all European natural science assets under common access, curation, policies and practices that ensure fair principles. DSSCO Prepare is the primary vehicle through which DSSCO reaches maturity necessary for construction and operation, raising implementation readiness levels across five dimensions with specific work packages to deliver a construction master plan that serves as the blueprint for building the DSSCO RI. This article was authored by Demetrius Corrias, Lawrence Livermore, Eva Alonso and others.