To prepare the future, continuously improve the existing operational services, and expand its services to the entire crisis cycle, GMES invests in Research and Development initiatives. The proposed improvements resulting from these efforts are submitted to a rigorous validation process before being integrated to the operational service chain.

The main criteria of performance are the added-value of products with risk-specific information and the improvement of the overall service chain.
 
12 new types of products can now be requested. They have been developed for specific disasters or hazards, and are supplementary to the other products provided by the service. These products were selected following the evaluation by a panel of users who were asked to express their needs at the beginning of 2011: