New generations of scientists and other academics who have grown up with social networking and viewsharing as a way of life are becoming movers in research communities, ushering in the use of networking as a standard knowledge sharing tool.Additionally, emerging economies, especially the BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India, and China), are creating new demand for access and new content. The exponential growth of cheap and reliable Internet access in these emerging economies is enabling access to online materials as never before. India and China are expanding their research capacity by expanding their university base and PhD student enrolment, creating further demand for effective publication and results-sharing channels. Added to this is the need to ensure that such research efforts will be able to contribute truly global solutions to the many challenges we face today. Such efforts require global collaboration and more inclusive shared approaches as research solutions increasingly lie outside a single discipline or organisation.