API panel to dive into logistics system integration

A session at the EFT North America Logistics CIO Forum, to be led by American Shipper IT Editor Eric Johnson, will look at the API versus EDI question of system-to-system communication.    The use of application programming interfaces (APIs) in the transportation and logistics industry has garnered much attention in the last year.
   There are a number of API providers and logistics software companies providing APIs in lieu of traditional electronic data interchange (EDI) messages that connect systems to transmit key data like rates, transit times and shipment status messages.
   A host of transportation management systems providers, in particular, have emerged based on the concept of connecting solely via API, most of them newer companies unencumbered by legacy systems and relationships that relied on EDI. Other, more established software companies are either developing APIs internally or turning to third-party developers of standardized APIs to connect shippers and brokers with carriers.
   In early November, I’ll be leading a panel on the topic at eyefortransport’s North American Logistics CIO Forum in Austin, Texas Nov. 3-4. The panel includes executives from SEKO Logistics, Worldwide Express, Redwood Logistics and project44 and will touch upon many of the issues American Shipper has covered on APIs over the last year.
   Most notably, the panel will discuss the benefits and drawbacks of APIs and EDI and how a company might begin to integrate APIs into it technology stack. The panel will be followed by a town hall session to dive into the issue in a broader format.
   The event is free to attend for chief information officers and IT vice presidents and executives from logistics services providers and carriers.