Open Standards & Interoperability

ImpactMatrix is designed as an open, interoperable platform. All assessment data, SDG metrics, and analytics outputs are available in multiple open standard formats — making it easy to use your data in GIS tools, statistical software, research systems, and semantic web applications.

Supported Formats

Format	Content Type	Best For
JSON	`application/json`	Default — all API clients
GeoJSON	`application/geo+json`	GIS tools (QGIS, ArcGIS, Mapbox)
JSON-LD	`application/ld+json`	Semantic web, knowledge graphs, linked data
SDMX-JSON	`application/sdmx+json`	Statistical analysis (R, Python, Eurostat)
CSV	`text/csv`	Spreadsheets, Excel, legacy pipelines

Using Format Negotiation

Request a specific format using the HTTP Accept header:

# Default JSON
curl https://api.impactmatrix.io/v1/sdg-assessments/123

# GeoJSON (for mapping)
curl -H "Accept: application/geo+json" \
  https://api.impactmatrix.io/v1/sdg-assessments/123

# JSON-LD (semantic web)
curl -H "Accept: application/ld+json" \
  https://api.impactmatrix.io/v1/sdg-assessments/123

# SDMX-JSON (statistical)
curl -H "Accept: application/sdmx+json" \
  https://api.impactmatrix.io/v1/sdg-assessments/123

# CSV
curl -H "Accept: text/csv" \
  https://api.impactmatrix.io/v1/sdg-assessments/123

# Format via query parameter
curl "https://api.impactmatrix.io/v1/sdg-assessments/123?format=csv"

GeoJSON — Spatial Analysis

GeoJSON exports include geographic coordinates for all entities, enabling you to visualize sustainability performance spatially.

What’s included in a GeoJSON export:

geometry: Point coordinates (city/facility location)
properties: Full ESGETC scores, SDG alignment, assessment metadata

Example: QGIS Integration

# Export all consortium assessments as GeoJSON
curl -H "Accept: application/geo+json" \
  "https://api.impactmatrix.io/v1/consortia/42/assessments" \
  -o assessments.geojson

# Open in QGIS:
# File → Open → assessments.geojson
# Style as choropleth by score dimension

Example: Mapbox / Leaflet

The GeoJSON output is directly compatible with Mapbox GL JS and Leaflet without transformation:

map.addSource('assessments', {
  type: 'geojson',
  data: 'https://api.impactmatrix.io/v1/assessments?format=geojson&apiKey=...'
});

JSON-LD — Semantic Web & Knowledge Graphs

JSON-LD output annotates all fields with linked data vocabularies, making ImpactMatrix data connectable to knowledge graphs, SPARQL endpoints, and other semantic web resources.

Vocabularies used:

schema.org — Organizations, Places, Actions
SOSA/SSN — Observations and sensors
SDGO — UN SDG ontology
PROV-O — Provenance and data lineage

This allows you to federate ImpactMatrix data with government open data portals, linked data repositories, and AI knowledge bases without custom transformation.

SDMX-JSON — Statistical Analysis

SDMX (Statistical Data and Metadata eXchange) is the international standard used by statistical agencies including Eurostat, the World Bank, and the UN Statistics Division. ImpactMatrix supports SDMX-JSON output for all SDG metric endpoints.

Example: R Analysis

library(rsdmx)

# Load SDG metric data from API
sdg_data <- readSDMX(
  'https://api.impactmatrix.io/v1/sdg-metrics?format=sdmx-json&sdg=5'
)

# Convert to data frame and analyze
df <- as.data.frame(sdg_data)
summary(df)

Example: Python Analysis

import requests
import pandas as pd

resp = requests.get(
    'https://api.impactmatrix.io/v1/sdg-metrics',
    headers={'Accept': 'application/sdmx+json'},
    params={'sdg': 13, 'country': 'NG'}
)

data = resp.json()
df = pd.json_normalize(data['dataSets'][0]['observations'])

CSV — Spreadsheet & Legacy Systems

CSV exports are available for all collection endpoints. Columns map to ESGETC dimensions and SDG indicators with human-readable headers.

# Export all assessments for a fund screening run
curl "https://api.impactmatrix.io/v1/investment-screening/runs/7/results?format=csv" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -o screening_results.csv

Bulk Data Export

All format options are available for bulk exports from the platform UI:

Navigate to Analytics → Export Data
Choose data type (Assessments, SDG Metrics, Consortium Data, VLR data)
Apply filters (date range, geography, dimension)
Select format
Download or schedule recurring export

Large exports (>100K rows) are processed asynchronously and delivered by email.

Linked Data Endpoint

For semantic web applications, the platform exposes a linked data endpoint at:

https://data.impactmatrix.io/

This endpoint supports content negotiation and serves JSON-LD, Turtle (TTL), and RDF/XML representations of all public assessment data.

Standards Compliance

Standard	Version	Use
GeoJSON	RFC 7946	Spatial data export
JSON-LD	W3C 1.1	Linked data
SDMX	3.0 (JSON profile)	Statistical exchange
OpenAPI	3.1	API specification
OAuth 2.0	RFC 6749	Authentication
JWT	RFC 7519	Token format

Full API specification: openapi.yaml