APIs and the Creation of Wealth in the Digital Economy - APIDays Paris 2015 Keynote
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Transcript of APIs and the Creation of Wealth in the Digital Economy - APIDays Paris 2015 Keynote
APIs and the Creation of Wealth in the Digital Economy
Democratizing Value Creation and Distribution in the Second Machine Age
Steven Willmott, [email protected] @njyx
Who Am I?
• Steven Willmott• CEO of 3scale• Leading API Infrastructure provider: 700+
Customers, billions API calls Month• Our Mission: Enable companies and
individuals to unlock the power of their APIs
http://www.3scale.net/ @3scale and @njyx on Twitter
The Next 20 Minutes
• The Power of APIs• Why it is critical that benefits are broadly
accessible • What you can do to lean on the scales to make
change
Background
The Second Machine Age: Work, Progress, and Prosperity in a Time of Brilliant Technologies, 2014, Erik Brynjolfsson, Andrew McAfee
The Price of Inequality: How Today's Divided Society Endangers Our Future, 2012 Joseph E. Stiegliz
APIs and Scripting: The Future of Creativity In The Second Machine Age: http://bit.ly/apiage
THE POWER OF APIS
APIs are the Ultimate Levers of Power in the Digital World
< Read, Submit, Edit, Ship, Activate, Learn, Infer, Process, Pay, … >
APIs form the Infrastructure for Automation
Climate
Home
Transport
News
Safety
Social
Political
Food
Question: Is all this automation a “good thing”?
Answer: It depends…
For API Providers: Yes!
For everybody else, a key question:
Are they pure Consumers of Value or are they Creators of Value?
Consumers v’s Creators
Consumer• E.g. Uber rider: I am a
consumer of the API• I get value• It helps me achieve a
goal• I’m willing to pay for the
achievement of that goal• BUT I am not a creator
Creator • Create new value with
an API (personalize, improve, augment)
• Offer that value to others
• I may pay, but I may also get paid
• I can enhance my business in some way
Who are the users of your API?Who benefits from it?
In this World…
Most users obtain value
But most of the wealth goes to the companies / individuals that create
complex apps
Why does this matter?
Because the ability to create value is inherently intertwined with Economic
Opportunity
Software is Eating the World
Done right: this is fantasticDone wrong: this is a disaster
Two Problems
1: Concentration of Wealth2: Under delivering on our opportunity
HOW APIS AND AUTOMATION WILL CHANGE THE ECONOMY
A Glimpse of the Future
Amazon Echo A Voice UI for the World
“What’s the distance to CDG”
“Where is the nearest Bakery”
Florists
Atelier Green Factory17 Rue Lucien Sampaix,
75010 Paris
Vert Lézard5 Rue Beaurepaire, 75010
Paris
Faubourg Saint Martin82 Rue du Faubourg Saint-
Martin, 75010 Paris
La Fontaine Fleurie3 Rue de la Fontaine au Roi,
75011 Paris
Axel Fleurs30 Avenue Simon Bolivar,
75019 Paris
Example: Florist
Consumer (Application)• Drives Business• Adds a known brandBut:• Homogenizes product• Controls pricing • Keeps %age cut of the
resulting revenue
Creator (APIs)• Empower change – Digital Devices,
Personalization, Delivery, Payments, Ambience etc.
• Create a richer experience
• Capture more value
Paris Taxi Companies
09 70 44 75 75
06 68 35 52 48
01 76 49 76 49
06 07 60 49 14
01 76 21 89 89
Example: Taxis
Consumer (App)• Fantastic User Experience• Good management for
drivers• Drives demand, Lifts the
MarketBut:• Loss of Control• Pricing Influence• Conflict
Creator (APIs)• Differentiated Experiences:
– Local knowledge, personality, vehicles, local knowledge
– Tap into mapping, dispatch, facebook graph, reputation, and more
• Small taxi collectives could hook into the same APIs as Uber
• Collective by collective, or smaller platforms.
Example: Bookshops
GAME OVER for Bookshops?
Example: BookshopsConsumer (Apps): • Large platform competes
with independents• Customer has access to
huge catalogue, shipping, reviews
But: • Cuts out independent book
shops• Homogenizes product• Concentrates Value
Creator (APIs)• Build your OWN
Modern Bookshop:– Lighting– Personalization– Local Authors– Shipping– Online Catalogues
• Individual shops or small collectives
Not saying that Amazon, Uber, et. Are “evil”: Amazing companies
However: broadening who can create1. Spreads economic opportunity
2. Net increases the value being created
WHAT DO WE DO TO MAKE THIS HAPPEN?
Who Me?
Ask the Question
• Who are the beneficiaries of your APIs? – Developers? – Partners?– Customers?– End Users?
• Do these groups Consume or do they Create?
Draw a DiagramO
ppor
tuni
ty to
Cre
ate
Opportunity to Distribute Value Created
Place: Developers, Partners, Customers,
End Users…
AccessData
Connect IFTTT
ControlLighting
ResellAutomation
?
Enable & Empower Users
Docs
Code Samples
SDKs IFTTT
Zapier
Use Case Studies
Excel Plugins
Query builders
Terms of Service
Block-spring
As an industry …
There is Progress…
We should not be having to teaching everybody to become an Engineer
TAKE AWAY’S
1:
APIS are the most powerful tools we have ever had as Software Engineers
2:
Automation will only truly benefit Society if the majority of people can be Creators of Value as well as Consumption
3:
Your company will be 10x* better off if you manage to broaden users and enable more creation
Two Pies
Automation Created by the Few, to serve the many
Automation created by the many, for everyone
Homework for us all: Figure out who your users are and enable them to create value
You will make an enormous difference to the impact of technology
http://www.3scale.net/ @3scale and @njyx on Twitter
REFERENCES
Images• Twilio Billboard, Andy Raskin, San Francisco• https
://500px.com/photo/110775059/hustle-bustle-of-hong-kong-by-nardus-taljard Nardus Taljard
• https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/b6/70/64/b67064cd831ecfc6cdf3f2bc44d8753e.jpg
• https://500px.com/photo/92169509/soul-s-artist-by-jacopo-benedetti Jacopo Benedetti
• https://500px.com/photo/99980663/rouge-by-artvideo-studio Art Video Studio
• https://500px.com/photo/215416/-by-taras-perevarukha Tara Perevarukha