[rch]

For this to happen there would need to be a nationally accepted PE certification for 'software engineers' on par with other engineering disciplines. It's unreasonable to expect non-experts, and experts from other fields, to perform credentialing on a case by case basis.

[vonmoltke]

There is no "nationally accepted" PE license for any discipline. It's a state-level credential and reciprocity is not universal or automatic.

[rch]

I included the "nationally accepted" bit since I'd prefer to see some incremental improvement over current models, but I don't have confidence that an international standard would be accepted in all relevant contexts. It could still be administered at the state level.

I'm also ignoring the requirement that candidates must start with a degree from an ABET-accredited institution, which seems to feature prominently in proposals from IEEE and others. Ideally I think there should be some way around that, but alternatives I'm familiar with aren't great either (e.g. FINRA).