The 3^rd European Conference on Intellectual Capital (ECIC 2011) was held deep in the Mediterranean on the tranquil island of Cyprus just before Easter. Hosted by the European Centre of Knowledge Management Research at the University of Nicosia, the conference attracted 101 participants from 31 countries many of whom came from beyond the borders of Europe…a most welcome event for an occasion that is primarily for Europeans. Even so, the contributions of participants from other continents were more than welcome as they joined with their European counterparts in enhancing the intellectual capital of everyone present. The range of people, issues, and the mix of approaches followed provided an interesting two days. The feedback we have received was most encouraging suggesting that the conference was intellectually challenging and rich in ideas.

Our appreciation and thanks are extended to everyone who participated in the conference and above all to those who presented a paper whether it represented finished research or just work‑in‑process. The conference proceedings provide a complete record of all the papers presented at the conference. We are also especially grateful to those doctoral students who showed great courage in sharing their incomplete research with us as well as to those who chose to contribute with a poster presentation. Congratulations to Deborah Branswijck and Patricia Everaert of Ghent University College, Belgium, whose paper entitled “Intellectual Capital Disclosure Commitment: a Myth or Reality?” was voted Best PhD Paper and to Dolores Sanchez Bengoa of Leeds Metropolitan University, UK whose poster “Tools for Knowledge Sharing in Cultures with High Power Distance” was voted Best Poster.

It would be remiss of us not to acknowledge the contribution of our committee members to the double blind peer review process as well as the feedback from the session chairs for their input on the quality of papers presented. Using this input we have selected nine papers, each of which has been enhanced to some extent, to join an invited paper from one of our keynote speakers, John Girard, for publication in this issue of EKJM.  These articles cover a variety of topics including knowledge sharing, social capital, intellectual capital strategy, modelling dynamics, knowledge management, and intellectual capital measurement, which provide various new insights for our readers.

As in the conference, we open with a paper from John Girard that questions and considers how social technology, leadership and a culture of collaboration will impact on future developments planned by our business leaders. This theme continues when Vasileiadou and Missler‑Behr use a German case study to examine how new ventures, in an era of diminishing transaction costs, utilise social media for internal and external communication purposes as part of their relational capital management as well as knowledge and value creation. The conceptual model they offer must surely have a place elsewhere as Abili looks to discover through his research how Iranian SMEs might not only benefit themselves by more effectively managing their social capital but also further develop Iranian society. His conclusions were not positive suggesting that cultural differences play a significant role in the use of social media to further business sustainability.

Of course, use of the virtual world is not restricted to business ventures and Barrett takes the discussion into the online learning environment. Recognising the need for effectiveness, efficiency and flexibility he looks at how educational institutions embrace emerging technologies and a culture of collaboration to enhance intellectual capital in this particular learning environment. The educational theme continues when Schebesch examines the long‑term benefits and costs associated with the sustainable innovation in business incubators and technology centres. He concludes that, while sustainable innovation is more expensive to develop, the long‑term benefits are more durable when there is a more collaborative environment.

That an organisation's intellectual capital, which is represented by employee's knowledge, brainpower, know‑how and internal processes, is a source of value and competitive advantage has been recognised for some time. That it is important in developing knowledge strategies within the framework of strategic management is discussed by Bratianu, Agapie and Orzea as they look to develop an organisational knowledge dynamics model. Based on the dynamic equilibrium equation, their model reflects the difference over time of total organisational knowledge, knowledge creation, knowledge acquisition and knowledge loss on the balance of organisational knowledge. Of course, having such an understanding is most important for organisations that operate in the knowledge economy. Mládková recognises this in her examination of how the way work with knowledge is organised influences the productivity of knowledge workers in the Czech Republic.

The final three papers in this issue of the journal reflect more on the measurement aspects of intellectual capital. Ruiz, Navarro and Peña look at the macro environment as they demonstrate the possibility of measuring the development and management of knowledge at a country level. Their findings suggest that economic growth in developing countries displays a stronger relationship with intellectual capital than it does in the developed world. At a micro level, Maciocha and Kisielnicki identified the intangible assets that were most crucial to organisational value creation and 14 different indicators that would help an organisation understand its progress in this critical activity. The importance of soft skills such as motivation, team building and collaboration are highlighted. Since these skills are more likely to be present in developing organisations rather than developed ones, it would seem that measuring intellectual capital management performance is equally crucial at both macro and micro levels of society. In the final paper in this issue, we have come a full circle. Carrington and Tayles identify that measuring intellectual capital mediates and validates the relationships between its relevant components and overall performance in intellectual capital management. Not only that, these components are related to sense making, which is a key element of successful communication and provides a foundation for understanding the interaction between intellectual capital management and an organisation's performance.

It seems clear then, that in examining many of the different aspects of intellectual capital management, our authors gravitate around certain key aspects that appear to be common to sustainability in the knowledge economy. We hope this special issue of EJKM serves as a timely and updated reference for those involved in the management of intellectual capital and trust that you will find value in our selection of papers.

Geoff Turner and Clemente Minonne