This list contains the list of standards and technical specifications analysed in the APIs4DGov study "Web API landscape: relevant general purpose ICT standards, technical specifications and terms". Notice that the list does not include a set of documents which are considered of (i) general purpose for the Web and (ii) consolidated background knowledge of the reader (e.g. HTTP, JSON, XML, URI, SOA, ROA, RDF, etc.).
Each document is classified accordingly to the following rationale:
- Name: extended name (with acronym, if available).
- TS/S: we distinguish the documents into two main categories: (1) “Technical Specification” and (2) “Standard”. The definitions of the two terms are in use in official and technical documents, including the ones of CEN, IEC, ISO and Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC). For the purposes of this dataset, we choose the definitions proposed by the OGC: (1) "Specification" or "Technical Specification" (TS): "a document written by a consortium, vendor, or user that specifies a technological area with a well-defined scope, primarily for use by developers as a guide to implementation. A specification is not necessarily a formal standard"; (2)
"Standard" (S): "a document that specifies a technological area with a well-defined scope, usually by a formal standardisation body and process".
- Category: each document is classified by its functional specification (Resource Representation, Protocol), Security (Authentication, Authorisation), Usability (Documentation, Design), Test, Performance, and Licence. See section 2.2 for a description of each category.
- Short Description: a short description of the TS/S.
- Link: URL of online document describing the TS/S.
- API Type: RPC or REST, both if not specified.
- Initial Release: the year when the TS/S was proposed the first time (where not available the most probable year, calculated by additional desk research, was given).
- By: the organisation (i.e. standard body, consortium, vendor) or individual that proposes the standard.
Vaccari, Lorenzino; Santoro, Mattia (2019): API standards and technical specifications for governments. European Commission, Joint Research Centre [Dataset] doi: 10.2905/JRC.8Y9SE20 PID: http://data.europa.eu/89h/5a431f38-1e2c-449a-898e-34f2a3234c3b
API standards and technical specifications (XLS format)
API standards and technical specifications (ODS format)
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From their inception, digital technologies have had a huge impact on our everyday life. In both the private and the public sectors, they have contributed to, or at times driven, change in organisational structures, ways of working, and how products and services are shaped and shared. Governments and public administration units, driven by the digital evolution of information and communications technology (ICT), are evolving from traditional workflow-based public service provisions to digital equivalents (e-government), with more innovative forms of government and administration looking for the engagement of citizens and the private sector to co-create final services through user-centric approaches. Application Programming Interfaces (APIs), which are one of the most relevant ICT solutions, have contributed to this notable shift in the adoption of technology, especially when used over the web. They have affected the global economy of the private sector and are contributing to the digital transformation of governments.
To explore this in more detail, the European Commission recently started the APIs4DGov study. One of the outputs of the study is an analysis of the API technological landscape, including its related standards and technical specifications for general purpose use. The goal of the analysis presented in this brief report is to support the definition of stable APIs for digital government services adopted by governments or single public administration units. Such adoption would avoid the need to develop ad hoc solutions that could have limited scalability or potential for reuse. Instead, the work suggests that we should consider a number of existing standards provided by standardisation bodies or, at least, technical specifications written by well-recognised consortia, vendors or users.
The aim of this report is also to support API stakeholders in the identification and selection of such solutions. To do this, it first gives a series of definitions to help the reader understand some basic concepts, as well as related standards and technical specifications. Then, it presents the description and classification (by resource representation, security, usability, test, performance and licence) of the standards and technical specifications collected. A shortlist of these documents (based on their utilisation, maintenance and stability) is also proposed, together with a brief description of each of them. Finally, the report provides a useful glossary with definitions of the relevant terms we have collected so far within the APIs4DGov study.
