I have been tuned into and contributing towards the regulation of APIs for payments and healthcare space for a number of years. I feel that the work to regulate payment APIs must continue being the top priority when it comes to regulation of APIs—-PSD2, 1033, and other work is super critical moving forward. Along with that work, I feel that the second top priority must be healthcare interoperability with FHIR and other relevant schema, but after payments and healthcare, I believe that regulating advertising APIs must be the 3rd highest priority.
Payments impact every person on earth, and represent the frontline of balancing wealth around the globe. Similarly healthcare impacts every person on earth, and represent the frontline of balancing the health of our populations. Now advertising APIs is a priority for different reasons because it is the monetization engine for the technology sector, and increasing other sectors. Standardizing advertising isn’t about optimizing their revenue, it is about bringing more standardization, observability, and traceability in how platforms are generating revenue based upon the data of everyday users of their platforms.
Payment and healthcare API regulation has the potential to standardize and empower the average person, making their lives better. Advertising API regulation has the ability to standardize and empower regulators and researchers to understand the exploitation and extraction that is occurring at scale via platforms your average person depends upon each day, and regulates the monetization by tech companies on top of our digital bits. While there are many other areas we desperately need API standardization and regulation, such as shipping and logistics, education, and transportation, these are the top three APIs in need of regulation that will have the greatest impact on society.
