Research institutions, funding bodies and researchers themselves are becoming increasingly aware of the need to manage imaging and 3D data. At an institutional level data management policies are playing an increasingly significant role laying down plans for the provision of infrastructure, policy and guidance. Drawing upon the preliminary results of the University of Southampton's JISC funded DataPool project, this paper will gauge the extent to which institutional policy development might be supplemented or even enhanced by an increased awareness of localised responses to the challenges of imaging and 3D data management. The paper will review approaches to data management that have been adopted by individuals and research groups and will propose that in many cases these developments might be pivotal in defining the form of institutional data management policy should take.