Generating, processing, disseminating, and archiving scientific and scholarly knowledge is changing in a fundamental way. In the future, researchers from all over the world will be able to collaborate in virtual organizations based on Internet technology. Science enhanced by new digital working opportunities is described as e-Science – “enhanced science.” Science, in this context, is understood not only to cover the natural sciences but also any other discipline like social sciences and the arts and humanities. The new dynamic forms of scientific and scholarly work require innovative infrastructures and services for communication, information, and publication.
 
Challenges for today’s information management are:

• Fast-growing amounts of information (the “data deluge”)
• Integration of heterogeneous information sources within and outside of an organization
• Manifold object types and metadata formats
• Need to integrate information sources with existing and new applications

As a service institution with long standing experience and competence in information technology, FIZ Karlsruhe is developing sophisticated e-Science solutions for scientific and scholarly communities. Connecting researchers and information resources in virtual knowledge environments is a central pillar in FIZ Karlsruhe's long-term strategy