I did a marathon series of open data and specification sessions with our partners over at Metadata Technology North America (MTNA) last week, which during one of them I learned about Ariā, where you can find and download concepts and definitions, classifications, concordances, and standards used for data and statistical activities across New Zealand government. MTNA has put years of work into the platform, which is something they are now also rolling out for Stats Canada. I have had several discussions with MTNA about Ariā, but this working session was my first deep dive into the platform, and the API that power it. Here is our over 60 minute session where the MTNA team provides a comprehensive look at the power behind not just Ariā, but the entire standards and classification platform.
I am still getting up to speed on everything Ariā does. Next I will spend some time playing with the API. This is where I will be able to better understand how it all works. I am keen on trying to help document it, but then also think about the overall developer experience that could be stood up around not just individual implementations of the Ariā API, but for an overall global instance of it. As I discuss in the working sessions, it is really a fundamental part of the overall open data conversation, by providing all the essential building blocks all of us API developers are needing to round off our API operations. As developers, we really spend way too much time reinventing the wheel when it comes to the most commonly used standards and classifications which should be readily available via a simple but robust API so that it can be used in all types of applications.
If you’d like to learn more about Ariā I recommend watching the video, but you can also stay tuned for more working sessions, and storytelling around Ariā. If you have more questions I recommend reaching out to the MTNA folks as they are more than happy to answer questions about what they’ve been building, and what Ariā can provide. It really is something every company’s should be using to help them manage all of the essential building blocks of our society.
