As one publication succinctly puts it:  

“The digital economy is becoming ordinary.” 

This is the reality of today’s global economy. It is, to all intents and purposes, a digital economy. How companies operate, how transactions are made, and even how we interact with each other - is now largely done through technology. And if you don’t have a data-driven business to adapt to the present era, then you will be left behind. 

The term “digital transformation” is often heard on this blog, and it is happening around us. However, is that an accurate description of what is going on, or should we use “digital evolution” instead? Few companies can afford to completely overhaul their systems simultaneously with all the disruption it causes. Many businesses prefer an organized and structured approach towards digital maturity. 

We talk about the API economy a lot on this blog, and rightly so. APIs have been and will continue to be at the heart of the digitalization of the world economy. As global supply chains, networks, and businesses become ever more integrated, APIs have enabled those systems to communicate and transfer data efficiently. 

Many organizations will have multiple data sets across different parts of their systems. Much of the data will contain similar, if not duplicate, information about the same people. This doesn’t only affect clients and external stakeholders. In fact, in some cases, most of the data will be on internal systems and employees, presenting a challenge for HR teams. 

While it might not trigger a passionate discussion around a dinner table, there’s no doubt insurance is a necessary part of life. Whether you drive a car, own or rent a house, or booked a holiday - it’s likely that we’ve had to pay for insurance at some point in our lives. And it is that necessity that drives the value of the industry, which stood at $5.8 trillion in 2020. 

There is still a common idea that the word manufacturing is associated with old factories, building dirty machines, and the din of metal clanging. Not only has this idea been wrong for decades – think of the impressive assembly lines of car manufacturers – it is now being blown out of the water by the fourth industrial revolution. 

The idea that APIs are a major driving force in the digital economy is not new. Gartner went as far as saying we were living in an API economy back in 2016. In just five short years, the world has become ever more driven by data and cloud-based systems.  

The emergence of blockchain has been synonymous with the rise of crypto. However, blockchain is revolutionizing many aspects of technology, such as supply chains, data management, and security. It operates in similar areas to APIs – which commands the question, can APIs and blockchain work together, or do they clash? 

When people talk about digitization and digitalization, it’s easy to think they are essentially discussing the same concept. Even those uttering those words may be making the same assumption. However, there are a few small but significant differences between the two terms.  

In 2020, businesses faced down the challenges posed by successive lockdowns and social distancing through embracing digital transformation. Few could have imagined API trends would have been accelerated so quickly and extensively. The global economic picture has been shaken, and like a kaleidoscope, the patterns are starting to fall back into place.