Abstract
The European research landscape has evolved in the 7th framework programme (FWP) to reflect new challenges to human security both at the European and global levels. Today, European security research is designed to address societal demands in the face of these new security challenges, and to enhance the competitiveness of European security industry. The Global Monitoring and Environment and Security (GMES) initiative has particularly evolved in the 7th FWP to reflect the increasing importance space technology can play in developing solutions to address the requirements of several European Union (EU) policies with a global dimension such as border monitoring and crisis management. Research though is still an essential element in the European security research programme. GMOSS is a network of excellence that has developed into a European think-tank focusing on research on earth observation (EO) technologies for security. The greatest achievement of GMOSS has been to bring together fragmented civil security research from around Europe, to build the foundation for a security research community focusing on EO technologies for civil security applications.