Navanwita Bora Sachdev is a freelance contributor and Editor of The Tech Panda.
The consequences of using Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) are certainly great, something that can be sent to distribute information and services on a massive scale. Thoughtfully prepared with beautiful design, thoughtful APIs for Environment, Society, and Governance (ESG) can transform a society into a well-informed entity.
APIs are often referred to as unsung heroes without the user knowing. Few users know how many APIs are serving their needs even in the simplest digital minification, whether it is a Uber, make a peer-to-peer payment, or communicate with a company via WhatsApp. The API even drives streaming services like Netflix.
In each of these companies, the customer-oriented company fulfills a specialized need for a particular product or service, but they draw on the other company’s areas of expertise and share software services. to simplify and enrich the customer experience. This is why APIs are often compared to Lego interconnecting blocks, bridging the gap between potential bundles of digital information.
It’s no secret that APIs can help businesses accelerate growth. Recently Deloitte’s research found that more than a third (35%) of leading technology organizations are generating at least a quarter of their revenue through APIs. The most reliable successful examples are Twilio, WhatsApp, Google mapSlack, by Amazon AlexaAnd Facebook.
Since its impact is far-reaching, especially in the future, it makes sense to wonder about the social impact such a technology could have. After all the APIs economy have a significant impact on the economics of any premise. An API Status survey found that nearly 60% of the 2,200 respondents considered participating in API economic is the top priority, of which, 67.1% work in the financial services industry.
API for ESG
ESG is a great use case for APIs. The ESG API helps organizations understand and manage their ESG data, measure their performance, and share their results with other organizations, which can be helpful in tracking and determining impact organizations for society and the environment.
Data can also assist investors in making decisions regarding sustainability initiatives. Some examples of good ESG APIs are ESG-API, ESG Enterprise, MSCI ESG data API, FactSet ESG-API, Sustainalytics ESG Data Services and Xignite Global ESG-API.
“Countries across the globe have been reporting emissions data for decades. However, there are still many gaps in terms of access to the right data and the expertise required to quantify emissions. “There is a huge unmet need for hyper-local and globally accurate GHG data,” said Chandrashekar D, VP of Engineering, Ambee. Bangalore based on the company that launched its greenhouse gas API in 2022.
APIs & Administration
Not only private companies, but public organizations such as cultural heritage organizations and statistics offices are increasingly providing APIs, often as part of a larger open data strategy. Such providers include the United Nation (API), World Health Organization (API) and the World Bank (API).
Several federal and regional governments have implemented Web APIs, many of which provide access through open data portals (e.g. data.gov, data.gov.uk, open-data.europa.eu , etc).
India is also leveraging the power of APIs to reach its large population.
India & API: The Case of UPI
In India, the government is driving API adoption by launching initiatives such as the National Data Sharing and Access Policy, which aims to make government data more accessible to the public. with businesses and citizens through the use of APIs.
“While India is still in the early stages of API adoption compared to the US and Europe, the burgeoning technology industry and large pool of skilled developers make India an attractive market for developers. provides APIs and businesses want to integrate with Indian companies. With continued investment and support, India has the potential to become a major player in the global API economy in the coming years, said Rakshith Rao, CEO of APIwiz.
The best example of API’s social impact is probably India’s payments industry. Largely disconnected, Unified Payments Interface (UPI) has been brought in to provide a real-time payment system in India allowing instant transfers between bank accounts via device mobile.
“The success of UPI in India can be largely attributed to the use of APIs, which play a key role in enabling the integration of multiple financial institutions and third-party service providers,” said Rao. father”.
Developed by National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), UPI is built on a set of APIs that allow different banks and payment service providers to securely connect and exchange information. . These APIs allow UPI to seamlessly connect to multiple bank accounts, thereby providing users with a single interface to perform multiple financial transactions, such as sending and receiving money, and paying bills. and shop online.
By using a simple and intuitive mobile application built on top of the UPI API, users can make transactions quickly and easily without in-depth technical or hardware knowledge. specialized. This has made UPI a popular payment method in India, with over 74 billion transaction processed through the platform in 2022.
Furthermore, the use of the API has facilitated the integration of third-party applications and services with the UPI platform. In turn, this has enabled the development of a range of innovative new products and services, such as mobile wallets, bill payment platforms and digital lending platforms, all of which have expanded further the reach and utility of UPI in India.
While finance is one of the most effective areas of API implementation, other areas of governance can assist society in
Attentive API
APIs are certainly powerful mediators in a data-driven society. ONE learn discusses various aspects of APIs from the perspective of social scientists who use APIs to collect data, finding that APIs are rapidly becoming a relevant form of data access, in research academic and applied research as well as to civil society more broadly.
The pandemic has certainly accelerated the transition to using APIs. Data-driven organizational agility has become important. In a recent time survey of 13,000 developers, nearly a third identify that APIs play an important role in their ability to respond to the pandemic, such as complying with new regulations and driving the development of new applications to work remotely. We can prepare for difficult situations in the future, such as a pandemic, with thoughtfully designed APIs.
