API-Enabled Data Collaboration
APIs create potential for organizations and nations to unlock innovation by sharing data while remaining in control of sensitive information.
Total potential economic value creation
US$3.53 trillion
What does this trend encompass?
Application programming interfaces (APIs), the foundational infrastructure of data sharing, have transformed digital services by connecting isolated systems and platforms to distributed networks. They create the potential for secure, trustworthy, accountable, and auditable data sharing across organizations and national borders. With the right governance, APIs can drive the development of standardized frameworks for cross-border collaboration that allow industries and governments to participate in data ecosystems, unlock shared data-driven insights, and foster innovation without surrendering control over sensitive information. This trend builds on 2025's focus on strengthening data ecosystems for broad AI accessibility, especially as autonomous agents add a new execution layer through planning and executing workflows that potentially interface with multiple APIs.
Why is it important?
Industries and governments can use APIs as a framework for collaboration to unlock insights and foster innovation while supporting privacy and regulatory compliance through governed data access. This approach provides AI models with the rich and specific data they need to maximize effectiveness while keeping data owners in control. Integrating APIs in workflows is the foundational layer paving the way for autonomous agents.
Enabling conditions and countries’ readiness
According to DET survey respondents, the growth of API-Enabled Data Collaboration depends on:
Digital infrastructure: scalable and interoperable systems that provide reliable connectivity, secure cloud environments, and aligned data standards to support efficient and secure API deployment across borders.
Digital innovation: continuous research, experimentation, and developer engagement that advance API design, improve interoperability, and expand use cases across sectors. With the development of AI in particular, this offers new opportunities for expanding use cases.
Digital for Sustainability: sustainable architecture and resource-efficient infrastructure that ensure the long-term reliability, scalability, and affordability of API ecosystems, minimizing their environmental footprint while maximizing inclusion and resilience.
Economic, social, and environmental impact
This trend ranks middle-to-low overall for economic (5.12), social (5.09), and environmental (3.94) impacts. Economic benefits come from interoperability improving productivity and are expected to be highest in North America (5.5) and the Middle East and Africa (5.5). Social benefits, which include the potential to improve privacy in data sharing, are highest in Latin America (4.26) and Indo-Pacific and Asia (4.3). Environmental impacts reflect the energy demands from higher storage capacity and compute intensity.
Recommendations
Private sector
Partner across value chains
to establish simple data-sharing rules and co-create a certified affiliated data collaboration zone for trusted exchange that reduces integration costs and provides the foundation for transparent and explainable AI decisions.
Co-fund a neutral trust layer with peers and platforms
featuring clear roles, access lists, consent records, and independent oversight so that all parties can verify activity with audit trails while lowering integration costs through shared technical infrastructure.
Launch joint pilots with suppliers, focusing on priority customer journeys
such as onboarding, product traceability, cross-border payments, and fraud prevention, to create new value by enabling the auditing and accountability of transparent and verifiable data flows.
Support the skills development and technical resource requirements of SMEs
to integrate with API ecosystems in emerging economies.
Public sector
Enhance the incentives for digital public infrastructure investment
by advancing a clear agenda for industry, government and civil society to collaborate that sets clear rules for the trustworthy and collaborative flow of data, inferences, and insights across jurisdictional boundaries
Provide open test environments where organizations can safely pilot API solutions
using incentive-based, government procurement to reward trusted, inclusive, and water- and energy-efficient networking environments.
Connect national frameworks with regional networks
to create a cross-border trusted data ecosystem that reduces compliance burdens while supporting transparency and regulatory-compliant AI systems
Communicate in plain language
so citizens and SMEs understand their rights, permissions, and benefits of participation in data ecosystems that power the responsible use of data and AI.
IGOs, IOs, and others
Convene a multi-sector interoperability initiative
to promote trusted API networks with model templates and neutral certification that ensures transparency, explainability, and accountability of digital public infrastructure
Create and maintain a global API sustainability and equity index
that independently rates API-based data ecosystems on energy efficiency, water usage, data minimization, accessibility, defined liabilities, and fairness to incentivize investment and scale
Fund cross-border demonstrations in high-impact areas
such as transport, logistics, health, and food that prove how trustworthy APIs can create long-term value with inclusion, transparency, and climate resilience
Promote mutual recognition between regional frameworks
to reduce duplication and accelerate responsible AI development through standardized, auditable data-exchange mechanisms
Read the Digital Economy Trends 2026 report
Explore the full insights and analysis of the 2026 research.