According to Nobel Laureate Robert Solow, 80% of economic growth can be attributed to technological change (i.e., engineering).  In other words, the creation of money itself is contingent on engineering works and subsequent increases in human productivity -- and not necessarily vis allocations of land, labor, and capital as espouced by classical economic theory. So why is it so difficult to fund infrastructure, innovation, education, and deliver public services when these products are what creates our money in the first place?

Perhaps more pressing, as digital technologies advance at a staggering pace, the "Digital Twin" is increasing in relvance and influence over the allocation of resources. It is essential that the "Physical Sibling" of the digital twin is secured and validated by engineers. The effects of bad data on AI, IoT, and AR, etc., can have unpredictable and wide-reaching impacts on society. The effects of bad data are more difficult to reverse the longer it is present in a data system.  The sooner facts are validated, the less likely failures will occur.

Technological change must always precede economic growth.  We are going about the process of globalization as if economic growth precedes technological change.  This presentation describes how a very simple application combining blockchain, game theory, and a decentralized network of engineers that can reverse this flaw. It begins with the creation of a specialized knowledge inventory comprised of claims and validations performed by engineers among themselves related to the state of the physical world that they observe in the course of their work. A cryptographic token is awarded to an engineer who registers a claim or observation, and another token to the engineer that validates the claim or observation. Engineers, in effect, create personal validated records which may algorithmically replace the Resume / CV system for reporting education and expertise.   

As the database increases in size, it becomes a valuable source of business intelligence for the generalized reduction of physical and financial risk esposures in physical systems. In order to access the database, business analysts must purchase the tokens from an exchange where engineers may liquidate their holdings dependent on market rates. In essence, this converts the engineering compensation structure toward a royalty based system in line with most creative and financial professions, while improving the quantity and quality of engineering data and expertise available to the market.   

Authors of this work created the blockchain whitepaper for the National Society of Professional Engineers and won the prestigious Grand Challenge Innovation Contest with the American Society of Civil Engineers.  This topic has been presented in numerous keynotes nationally and internationally and considered the only blockchain application in development for engineers by engineers. 


The Innovation Bank: Blockchain Technology and the Decentralization of the Engineering Professions

Division / Sponsors: 
Aerospace, Bioengineering, Applied Mechanics, Design Engineering Division, Advanced Energy Systems, Manufacturing Engineering Division, Noise Control and Acoustics, Nondestructive Evaluation, Diagnosis, and Prognosis (NDPD), Nuclear Engineering Division, Process Industries Division, Fluids Engineering, Heat Transfer, Materials, Microelectromechanical Systems, Safety Engineering and Risk Analysis, Computers & Information in Engineering


Paper Proceedings: https://asmedigitalcollection.asme.org/IMECE/IMECE2020/volume/84478

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