Open APIs for fun and profit

Why having an Open API? Companies are exposing their valuable data as APIs, and – if done right – developers love to make use of them. What are best practices for creating new customer reach, unlocking innovation, and business value in such ways? What does it mean to be ubiquitous for a company, and why would developers onboard?

Transcript

1. Open APIs
   for fun and profit
   Andreas Amsler (@andreasamsler)
   opendata.liip.ch
   14 June 2016
   

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2. ● Business Developer & Product Owner at Liip.ch
   ● Focused on Open Data and Open APIs
   ● I clarify needs. Set priorities. Support the build & make
   a difference
   ● Founding board member of Opendata.ch
   

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3. 2002
   Amazon Web
   Services (AWS)
   https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:5_cent_euro.jpg
   

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4. Jeff Bezos (initial e-mail about API):
   ● All teams will henceforth expose their data and functionality
   through service interfaces.
   ● Teams must communicate with each other through these
   interfaces.
   ● All service interfaces, without exception, must be designed
   from the ground up to be externalizable. That is to say, the
   team must plan and design to be able to expose the interface
   to developers in the outside world. No exceptions.
   (as remembered by Steve Yegge)
   

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5. 2005
   Google’s
   Open APIs
   https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:174-free-google-maps-pointer.png
   

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6. 2006
   Facebook &
   Twitter
   https://www.flickr.com/photos/daklein/327565231
   

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7. 2007 2008 2009
   BT orange gop.gov
   c|net The New York Times TESCO
   MTV guardian.co.uk
   Etsy
   

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8. 2011
   Over 4000
   APIs,
   not all open
   

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9. If an API,
   why open?
   http://blogs.zdnet.com/Hinchcliffe
   

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10. Therefore.
    http://blogs.zdnet.com/Hinchcliffe
    

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11. 2016
    We love
    to build and
    use not
    open APIs
    

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12. 2016
    But even
    more, we love
    Open APIs
    

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13. What are the secrets of an OpenAPI?
    ● Lower the barrier for externals to understand and code
    with your API
    ● Don’t design an API around your business, but around
    your consumers’ needs
    ● If you want people to use your API, it needs to be usable.
    Benoît Pointet, https://blog.liip.ch/archive/2015/05/11/the-user-experience-of-apis.html
    

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14. How to build
    it? – technically
    (sic!)
    

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15. … and iterate together
    with your users.
    James Victore quoted by Darja Gartner,
    https://twitter.com/andreasamsler/status/609371627378339840
    

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16. @andreasamsler
    opendata.liip.ch
    

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