5G and Cloud Edge are Breaking the Barrier to Decision-making in Capital Markets

Needless to say, the generation gap is widening quicker than we expected, and it applies to technology as well.  From 1G to 5G, we have come a long way in terms of network speed, connection density, latency, energy efficiency, and more. Although 5G promises increased speed, it needs to be complemented by edge computing to bring computation closer to the data source.

As a result, 5G and edge computing are expected to significantly impact capital market firms. These firms make billions of dollars-worth of decisions almost every second based on the information available at the time of decision-making. As a result, the availability of real-time data is critical. Economic necessity has influenced the use of data in decision-making, and poor data quality is costing the US economy $3.1 trillion each year.

Transforming financial data into future insights

In the financial decision-making process, obtaining all relevant financial data is crucial.

• Bringing all relevant data to the execution time may cause processing and decision-making to be delayed.
• Failure to bring all relevant data will result in inaccurate predictions and, as a result, improper decision-making.

As a result, addressing these two crucial roadblocks is critical in the financial decision-making process.

Combating latency issues with 5G and cloud edge

The existing cloud computing architecture is facing severe latency issues due to its centralized model. To address this, one can shift to a decentralized approach with 5G and cloud edge. By bringing all relevant data closer to where it will be processed, the storage edge (decentralized data center) will reduce latency, and 5G will speed up data retrieval by up to ten times compared to 4G. The computing edge (distributed computing paradigm) will assist in identifying the relevant data, which is a small fraction of the complete data and required for decision-making.

The use-cases below heavily rely on the result of decision-making in the capital markets industry.

• Making investment predictions takes the current price of the investment and its future selling price as input. Investors are continually monitoring the price history to make future investment decisions. While 5G can help deliver the current market price in real time, edge computing can help to predict the future selling price using highly reliable market data.
• Algorithmic trading uses complex computations and mathematical models to make decisions to buy or sell financial instruments on an exchange. Edge computing over 5G could communicate with exchanges in real time to obtain a competitive advantage and increase profit margins through speed and precision.
• Financial advisory compiles all relevant data into a comprehensive financial plan that serves as a road map for their clients' financial future. Advisors use computer algorithms to manage their customers' financial data depending on their responses to questionnaires about their objectives and risk tolerance. Financial advisors will then be able to develop a real-time simulation of future investment strategies using 5G and edge computing, which will aid their customers in making financial decisions effectively.
• Payment of dividends is a management decision-making mechanism whose objective is to increase shareholder wealth. Inefficient dividend decision mechanisms will have a negative impact on the company's valuation. Edge computing simulation and prediction over 5G aids management in assessing the company's financial health and motivations following a dividend using real-time market data.
• Collection of accounts receivable is a decision-making process that involves determining the amount and terms of a customer's account receivable. The credit terms offered have a direct impact on the costs and revenue generated from receivables. 5G brings together all of a customer's data from various systems in real time, allowing edge computing to assess a potential customer's ability to pay within the term accurately.

In today's environment, these use-cases require gathering data from multiple source systems, then filtering out the relevant data for decision-making. Because 5G makes relevant data readily available for real-time processing, the outcome of decision-making will aid the above use cases to be more reliable and realistic.

The way ahead for 5G and cloud edge

With the increased need for decentralized computing and lower latency in decision-making, both 5G and cloud edge are poised to significantly improve the performance of applications and enable huge amounts of data to be processed in real time. They also aid companies in maintaining data integrity, allowing them to derive reliable intelligence from data assets and make smarter decisions. Enabling a fast and accurate decision-making process in the capital markets industry will not only make the decision-making process efficient but also maximize the gains, thanks to fast access to a comprehensive range of services at the 5G edge.