During the last decades, Geosciences and Science in general, has fully entered a new mode of operation. Data science (including e-science) defined as a combination of science, informatics, computer science, cyber infrastructure and information technology is changing the way all geoscience disciplines do both their individual and collaborative work. EGU scientists are facing global problems of a magnitude, complexity and interdisciplinary nature that progress is limited by available knowledge and skills that are required to solve these problems. At the heart of this new way of doing science, especially experimental and observational science but also increasingly computational science, is the generation of data. In front of the great amount of generated data several questions arise. How and where is this data stored? Does effective data exchange exists between scientists? Are the existing data sets available and accessible for the scientific community? It is evident that data supporting published research must be accessible. However, this is not always the case. A streamlined way of ensuring that data are made accessible, and in user-friendly formats, is sorely missing. As a result, evasion strategies and excuses for keeping data in closed, local archives increase. It is clear that the community of Earth and planetary scientists needs to develop a set of clear guidelines that detail the types and extent of project- or publication-related data that should be accessible. Besides, accessible storage of scientific data is usually mandated, but not often achieved. The task needs people who are interested in information technology and regard it as their primary focus. The goal of this session is to assess the current state of data storage and exchange and indicate successful progress made to date and the challenges that presently exist. The session will also highlight the progress and perspectives in data assimilation studies in various fields of geosciences.