The API Economist Relaunch in the new Age of the API

Welcome to The API Economist re-release, a resource dedicated to spreading the experience and advice of API pioneers for the technology and strategy of the API economy. We’re back from hiatus after our founder Apiphany was acquired by cloud platform and infrastructure leader Microsoft Azure in October 2013, and we relaunch under the patronage of Azure API Management. We’re kicking off with a slightly new look, a slightly new format, and even more up-and-coming and established API influencers.

The API Economist will release a new API thought leader interview each week, as well as occasional posts about industry events and news. We will continue to be a vendor-neutral source dedicated to sharing hands-on API experiences and best practices, focusing on how to better manage the API lifecycle, monetization, design, security and so much more, touching on emerging trends and important verticals.

We’re keeping the older content, but you will note an evolution in tone. That’s not because the quality of interview subjects has changed but because the industry has changed. In the more than two years since our last post, the application programming interface has gone from an emerging technology to the cusp of mainstream, making the API economy more relevant than ever to your business. And that’s not all that’s changed. In just two years, we’ve gone from talking about cloud computing as a question mark to accepting it as a necessity. Just look back at earlier posts to see the air quotes around the concept of the “cloud.” Now it’s simply an accepted term.

And we’re not just focusing on where the API economy has grown but where it’s headed. The API is the driving force behind the headliners big data, smart cities, and the Internet of Things. McKinsey and Company quantifies that 40 percent of the entire value of the Internet of Things comes from interoperability, which means almost half of potentially the biggest thing to happen to humanity will be because of the API.

We’re no longer talking about the API as a niche or even as a probability—the API will soon be driving significant impact on businesses in every sector, in every part of the world. The API Economist is here to make sure you’re ready for it—and that you’re ready to measure it all.

In this, our small contribution to the API community, we look to encourage the investigation and discourse around APIs as they empower businesses of all sizes with innovation, agility and a roadmap toward success.

And we can’t do it without you! You are the most important part of the API economy and we need you to join the conversation. Please take the time to comment on our posts, tweet to us at @APIEconomist and tell us who and what we should be covering next.