The FCC is leading by example with its beta release of the FCC.gov website on Monday. In this latest version of the site, the FCC has worked hard to follow Web 2.0 principles, most notably building the entire website on top of RESTful APIs. “Everything should be an API”, FCC managing director Steve Van Roekel said during the press briefing, according to O'Reilly's report.

The FCC move is part of a growing trend of APIs being used for internal development in order to effectively deploy everything from websites to mobile applications. The most notable may be Twitter's redesigned website which it launched last September. The new Twitter site consumes the same APIs used by its ecosystem developers.

Van Roekel gave some background for the redesign. As part of it, beta.fcc.gov will also be the center of an open, API-driven ecosystem. This will include:

reboot.fcc.gov/developer/ - A set of developer APIs, including FCC Consumer Broadband Test, FCC Census Block Conversions, FCC FRN Conversion, FCC License API, and a Spectrum Search API.

reboot.fcc.gov/data/ - An online clearinghouse for public FCC data sets

This new API-driven approach is meant to standardize the FCC's approach to delivering information between internal groups, via its website, and with the community at-large, while making good on its promise for a more open government. The FCC first released an API last September.

To see the government make this move represents an important step for APIs, with the FCC now taking the lead and showing the importance of APIs in this new technology driven economy.