Data needs, data availability, data sharing, data management… these are always hot topics when countries or institutions embark on Marine Spatial Planning (MSP). But how much do data influence MSP processes and is a lack of data a constraint for successful MSP? The webinar provided practical experiences from Australia and Israel on how data issues have been solved for planning and management efforts at sea. We discussed the following key points: – What kind of data is needed to start and conduct a MSP process? – How much do scope and objectives of a MSP process influence the need for data? And how much do data influence MSP processes? – What are the benefits and limitations of decision support tools? About the PANORAMA – Solutions for a Healthy Planet Webinar Series: Blue Solutions provides a global knowledge network and capacity development platform to collate, share, and generate solutions for effective management and equitable governance of our planet’s marine and coastal living spaces and to develop capacity for the ocean community on the initiative’s priority topics. Blue Solutions will host five sessions as part of the PANORAMA- Solutions for a Healthy Planet Webinar Series focused on marine and coastal issues. These sessions will highlight solutions related to different priority themes in the Blue Solutions Initiative focusing on marine and coastal ecosystems and “blue solutions” from all over our planet. Learn more about Blue Solutions at bluesolutions.info and PANORAMA – Solutions for a Healthy Planet at panorama.solutions/en. Hosted by Blue Solutions, This webinar series is co-hosted by MPA News, MEAM, OpenChannels, and the EBM Tools Network (coordinated by NatureServe and OpenChannels.org).