"Globalisation is accelerating, and this has an impact on the way we produce, share and use knowledge. Major global challenges such as climate change, energy supply, security of the citizen, etc., highlight the need for effective global S&T cooperation to promote sustainable development. Nowhere is this more important than in the area of Transportation R&D because an efficient and effective transport system is a fundamental prerequisite for economic growth. Furthermore, challenges transportation systems face such as congestion, security, energy efficiency and environmental problems are global concerns.The HERMES project aims to develop a closer and more effective communication, between researchers working in the field of transport technologies in the EU, and their counterparts around the world by facilitating the exchange of information and developing a framework for long term collaboration. This will be achieved through the establishment of a common portal for accessing information from databases of past and ongoing research projects worldwide, in collaboration with database managers worldwide. As part of these ativities HERMES will seek to obtain agreement for a harmonisation of database architectures, so that information can be accessed easily by researchers wordwide.A second aspect of the HERMES project is to engage the major players in transport research worldwide and bring them together in round table discussions to address the obstacles and concerns that restrict closer international collaboration in transportation R&D and provide a list of recommendations that will allow the creation of a truly global transport research community.The major benefits will be, a more efficient use of resources through avoidance of duplication of effort, flow of ideas so that lessons learnt in one region can be applied in another, encouragement of the incubation of innovative solutions to transport problems and identification of topics for future collaborative research."