As those interested in marine and coastal spaces, their health and management, move to more system scale considerations the data requirements can seem daunting. However, decades of research into ecosystems and how to monitor them has highlighted key components to track. Moreover, a mosaic of technology old and new is making that coverage ever more feasible. This presentation provides an overview of what’s needed to understand systems, what is easy to collect, where new technologies can help and the remaining gaps and challenges.