Blockchain Technology: Implications and Opportunities for Professional Engineers

Link to the NSPE white paper.  From the report:

"By contrast, the US system for licensure of professional engineers (Professional Engineering Protocol) with its own model law, is effective in bridging the capitalization gap—i.e., that long period of time between money flowing to a product or structure and the time that project produces revenue. Within this capitalization gap, the engineer’s stamp holds the asset in suspension during the design and construction phases, serving as a proxy for the finished project on the accounting balance sheet. Upon closer comparison, there appears to be significant functional similarities between the mechanics of the Professional Engineering Protocol and the mechanics of Blockchain Protocol for achieving security, consensus among stakeholders, and validation of transactions. Professional engineering licensure has proven effective for over 100 years, but few people are aware of the role that PEs play in an economic system. Today, the institution of professional engineering is struggling for an interface with the digital world."