Welcome to

The Pearcey Foundation

The Pearcey Foundation is a non-profit organisation founded in 1998 in memory of a great Australian ICT pioneer Dr Trevor Pearcey. The Foundation operates broadly across the Australian Information Communication Technologies (ICT) sector, from celebrating achievements through national and state awards, to being involved in debate and public policy on critical national issues such as productivity, the digital economy and national infrastructure.

Discover more Discover more

Pearcey 2023

Another year of exciting award programs, dynamic thought leadership discussions, a galvanizing Oration and a range of events and programs to celebrate our Australian ICT heritage and inspire our youth to a future in ICT.

Checkout the calendar on our events page or follow the links below for these flagship events.

Australia 4.0 - Thought leadership in the transition to Australia Net Zero

Session 5: September 28^th - Register Now
Summit: October 30^th Sofitel Darling Harbour, Sydney
Registrations Opening Soon

This is our 25^th year of awards, focussed exclusively on outstanding individuals drawn from across our vast geography.

We present 11 awards each year and have done so for a long time - recognising over 150 Australian ICT luminaries and entrepreneurs, as highlighted on this website.

2023 National Pearcey Awards Gala Dinner - Monday 30^th October - Sofitel Darling Harbour, Sydney

Heritage Projects - many activities including publication of an Australian IT history book, preservation of museums, and submission of an IEEE milestone for CSIRAC.

Pearcey 2022 - Highlights

The National Awards were held on 11 Nov 2022 in Hobart in conjunction with ACS Tasmania and TasICT, at the C3 Convention Centre, Hobart.

The 2022 Pearcey Medal was presented to John De Margheriti, widely seen as a founding 'father' of Australia's video games industry.

The 2022 Pearcey Hall of Fame inductees were John De Margheriti, Len Rust and Bevan Slattery.

The 2022 Pearcey Entrepreneur Award was presented to Dr Mark Englund, founder and CEO of FibreSense.

The Pearcey State Awards recognise outstanding entrepreneurs in ICT within each Australian State who have "taken a risk, made a difference and are an inspiration." The Pearcey Foundation is proud to have made the following awards:

*State*	*Award Recipient(s)*
ACT	Ben Bromhead and Adam Zegelin, co-founders of Instaclustr
NSW	Dr Mark Englund, founder and CEO at FiberSense
QLD	Rebecca McDonald, founder and CEO of Library for All Sarah-Jane Peterschlingmann, founder and Managing Director of ATech
SA	Flavia Tata Nardini, co-founder and CEO of Fleet Space Technologies
TAS	Andrew Davies, founder and CEO of Taz Drone Solutions
VIC	Jason Lohrey, founder and CEO of Arcitecta
WA	Mahmood Hussein, founder and CEO of Global Drone Solutions

The 2022 Pearcey Oration "From Pearcey to Quantum" was given by the Honourable Ed Husic MP, Federal Minister for Industry and Science.

The Pearcey Oration, along with the presentation of the 2022 Victorian Pearcey Entrepreneur Award, was held at a sit-down dinner at Melbourne Connect on Wednesday, 21 September 2022.

Ed Husic gave a passionate Australian perspective of digital technologies past, present and future.

Latest News

Sep 7, 2023

Australia's First Digital Computer on ABC Sunday Extra

In 1955, the first digital computer arrived in Australia in Melbourne, called CSIRAC. It is the world's oldest surviving first-generation electronic computer and the first computer to produce digital music.

Our guest was the former Head of the Dept of Computer Science at the Uni of Melbourne and explains how CSIRAC led to the rapid adoption of computing at the university and fostered the discipline.

Guest: Dr Peter Thorne, former Head of the Department of Computer Science, University of Melbourne, Chair, Heritage Committee, The Pearcey Foundation. Broadcast 3 Sep 2023

Australia 4.0 DIF Session

Join us for this very special Australia 4.0 DIF session, presented in partnership by the Pearcey Foundation and ACS. This event will look at whether the existing telecommunications infrastructure (e.g., NBN, existing Internet services, 5G and the like) can support the needs of the next generation electricity distribution and transmission networks as Australia transitions to a Net Zero emissions world. The panel will explore the opportunities for ICT professionals to enable and enhance the transition of the Australian electricity system to the Net Zero Emissions model.

Vale Harry Wragge AM

Many of us recall Harry as the crusty but jovial former head of TRL – Telecom Research Labs, for many years. His passing on 31 July at age 93 marks the end of an era when Telecom Australia dominated all aspects of Telecommunications in Australia.

Awards

The Pearcey Foundation's annual awards recognise and celebrate outstanding individuals in Australian ICT.

National Awards • State Awards • Nominations

The Heritage Project

The Pearcey Foundation intends to extend the Heritage Project well beyond Phase One (the book) – with the aim to become ‘the’ central repository – hosting a ‘virtual museum’ of Australia’s computing artefacts, documents and oral histories from key players.

The Project

Kind Words

Australians have all too often seen themselves as observers rather than participants in the digital revolution, but that does not do justice to our history. The Pearcey Foundation plays a very important role in highlighting the real contributions Australians have made in the past, and in so doing will help inspire the next generation of Australian digital innovators.

Charlie Day
Former CEO, Innovation and Science Australia

The Pearcey Foundation’s project to document Australia’s achievements in the computer age is a critically important endeavour. A central repository, that documents the central role of our universities and CSIRO and the individual contributions of academics and entrepreneurs, will be an essential resource for future policy makers and for students, research workers and entrepreneurs.

Alex Zelinsky AO
Vice-Chancellor and President, University of Newcastle

Australians are a nation of storytellers. Stories make us laugh and they make us cry, they remind us who we are and they inspire us, and let us celebrate our successes and failures. Australia has much to celebrate when it comes to the digital age, from pioneering work in computer science through to innovative cloud services. The Pearcey Foundation Heritage Project will be an inspiration to future generations of Australians.

Founder
Australian Ocean Lab and Former Engineering Director, Google Australia

Initiatives

The Pearcey Foundation is actively involved in many initiatives to help promote and accelerate the Australian ICT industry.

Thought Leadership • Australia 3.0 • ICT Heritage • Pearcey Institute

Discover more Discover more

In memory of

Dr Trevor Pearcey

The Pearcey Foundation Inc. was established in 1998 to raise the profile of the Australian Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Industry and profession. It was created in the memory of one of the greatest pioneers of the Australian ICT industry, Dr Trevor Pearcey.