Open Smart City APIs
The benefits of opening up technological structures
How to combine Open Data, Smart Cities, business opportunities and APIs (application programming interfaces)? Finland's DataBusiness.fi published a set of brochures on how to deliver open Smart City APIs. APIs provide the foundations for digital services of the future. More precisely, APIs facilitate data usage by multiple parties regardless of back-end system technologies.
The six largest Finnish cities, including Helsinki, have disclosed their data and interfaces since 2014. The new releases provide an overview of city experiences with opening up data and accelerating data-driven business. Why would companies and local public administrations read the new published API booklets? Companies will find an overview of the harmonised APIs that cities have opened up, a starting point for building smart business solutions. Local administrations on the other hand are provided with concrete technical advice and best practices for creating open APIs.
The brochures are available for downloading here. Looking for more city based Open Data applications? Check out the European Data Portal analytical report for more information on best practices and success stories!