Business View Magazine | January 2020

40 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE JANUARY 2020 of progress. API Registry There are a number of inefficiencies in the hospitality Application Programming Interfaces (API) space, including finding potential technology partners whose products and/ or services could add value to a hotelier’s offerings. HTNG members created a public API Registry as a repository for APIs to allow prospective business and technical partners the ability to find each other by quickly identifying counterparts with the most likely matches and most desirable options for their needs, and the best person to contact once you find them. GDPR The European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) went into effect on May 25, 2018 with a mission to strengthen the protection of individuals’ personally identifiable information (PII). This regulation affects any company doing business with European citizens, regardless if the company is based in Europe or not. Prior to the GDPR taking effect, HTNG formed a working group which produced a framework and a self-assessment tool to help the hospitality industry prepare for this new privacy regulation. Since the GDPR has been in effect, the group re-chartered to continue their work to update this white paper, and released a second version this past June. NFC Contactless Payments Near-field communication (NFC) contactless payments include, but are not limited to, Apple Pay, Google Wallet and Samsung Pay. Among hospitality brands, there has been an uneven acceptance of these contactless payment methods, which causes an inconsistent payment experience throughout the industry. This conflict often results in a negative customer experience and the uncertainty for brands to continue to use this type of payment in the future. HTNG’s NFC Contactless Payments Workgroup recently produced a white paper to help hospitality