It is a step in the right direction that only a few initiatives are currently developing standardised specifications for Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) and the ERPB already called for close cooperation between these projects.
To put the situation in perspective, global inflation increased from 4.3 percent in 2007 to 6.4 percent in 2008; this affected the outlook for global economic growth, which slowed from 5.2 percent to 3.4 percent. As a result, international oil prices fell sharply in the latter half of the year, especially following the escalation of the global financial and economic crisis in September.