The post-2008 crash business world has taken a quantitative turn, focused on data driven and analytics led search for uncovering complex feedbacks that operate in the highly networked economy. The modern economy is a network of multiple markets that connects individuals, small businesses, banks, corporations and governments. Understanding the architecture of the network and how feedbacks operate between these entities has become imperative for businesses. Since consumer choice is both informed and shaped by peer networks, understanding how feedbacks operate in this network of opinions and a perception has become quite fundamental for business in this information age.
In a networked economy, with feedbacks running between entities at various levels, the methods and tools of mainstream economics and finance are of little use in understanding the complexities. The business world has recognised this failure and has taken to big data driven analytics in order to thrive in such a complex network.
With more businesses realising the power of analytics, the corporates are investing heavily in big data and driving the ‘Quant revolution’ around the world. New cross-cutting business sectors have evolved. The fintech (financial technology) sector is one example, where it harnesses two domains, finance and information technology. Since the 2008 crash, the finance sector is moving towards new ‘secure’ technologies, such as block chain, for their products. This is the fastest growing sector in the global finance industry and in the context of digitisation and the inevitable financialisation of the Indian economy, the fintech sector is expected to grow here also. Even in the traditional business sectors, like retail and wholesale, transportation, hospitality, etc., there is a move towards big-data and analytics.
[Source”indianexpress”]
