Former US CTO Says APIs Are Key to Unlocking Government Data

Aneesh Chopra, the former federal Chief Technology Officer, says the evolution of application programming interfaces (APIs) will continue to open up government data in accessible, machine-readable formats. The launch of government data portals has done wonders for transparency efforts, but according to Chopra, APIs have an important role to play in making government information more useful to citizens.

Chopra, together with then-Chief Information Officer Vivek Kundra, focused efforts on making government more transparent with the Open Government Initiative. Chopra, a longtime advocate of open data in the public sector, said that API development is a key digital strategy in unlocking government data, and will be instrumental in the development of new products and services that both advance the mission of the agency whose data is being released, but also grow the economy and create new jobs. So far, API integration with government portals has already proved successful, for example, with HealthCare.gov, Chopra said. The portal, launched in 2010, is considered a first-of-its-kind guide, using government data, to help customers choose health insurance information.