Home - The Pearcey Foundation

Nov 11, 2025

2025 SA Award

The 2025 SA Pearcey Entrepreneur of the Year Award recipient is Tim Stollznow. Tim is founder and CEO of MyVenue, specialising in point-of-sale solutions for major sports and entertainment venues across Australia and North America.

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Oct 29, 2025

2025 Tasmanian Award

Roxane Bandini-Maeder, CEO and co-founder of climate tech startup Geoneon, was awarded the 2025 Tasmania Pearcey Entrepreneur of the Year at the Enterprize Tasmania Demo Day in Hobart.

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Oct 16, 2025

2025 Qld Award

Dr Clarissa Yates, biotechnology innovator and co-founder and CEO of Ketim Technologies was awarded 2025 Queensland Pearcey ICT Entrepreneur Award at a gala dinner held in Brisbane on 23 October 2025.

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Oct 14, 2025

2025 NSW Award

The 2025 NSW Pearcey Entrepreneur of the Year Award recipient is "robot nerd turned drone lover turned CEO/cofounder" (in his words) Rory San Miguel. The award was presented at a special Pearcey Foundation event on Tuesday 14 October in Sydney by Emma Weston, the 2023 NSW award recipient.

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Oct 3, 2025

Pearcey Entrepreneur does it again!!

As reported in The Age, Grant Petty, National and Victorian Pearcey Entrepreneur award recipient in 2020, has partnered with APPLE to once again make professional video creation and editing accessible to every creative effort.

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Oct 2, 2025

2025 ACT Award

Professor Lachlan Blackhall, Founding Professor of the Battery Storage and Grid Integration Program at the Australian National University and previously co-founder of Reposit Power, is the recipient of the 2025 ACT Chief Minister's Pearcey Award. The award was presented by ACT Chief Minister, Andrew Barr at the 2025 Pearcey Round Table in Canberra on Thursday, 2 October 2025.

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2025 Victorian Pearcey Entrepreneur Award

Sep 7, 2025

2025 Victorian Pearcey Entrepreneur Award

The 2025 Victorian Pearcey Entrepreneur Award presented to Sam Kroonenburg, co-founder and CEO of A Cloud Guru, co-founder and co-CEO of Cuttable. Award was presented at a special dinner in Melbourne, by Professor Eduard Hovy, Executive Director of Melbourne Connect at the University of Melbourne. This was the flagship event of the Melbourne Connect Innovation Week.

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Aug 21, 2025

Oral History of Australian Computing

Australia has a rich and dynamic history of invention, innovation, and commercial success in developing electronics products in computing and allied fields. Many of these achievements are within living memory. In this series of interviews by documentary expert Karl von Moller we hear first hand from the people who pioneered this era of modern electronics innovation in Australia.

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Aug 20, 2025

IT Innovation in AU joint Study

The 2024 pearcey Oration Taking the Tiger by the Tail – a digital future for Australia that works for us all! was delivered by Dr Ian Oppermann on Wednesday September 4^th 2024. Dr Oppermann looked through the digital and data lens to delve into challenges, issues and opportunities for equity, AI, privacy, cybersecurity, standards and collaboration.

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2024 Victorian Pearcey Entrepreneur Award

Sep 5, 2024

2024 Victorian Pearcey Entrepreneur Award

The 2024 Victorian Pearcey Entrepreneur Award presented to Chris Piastri, co-founder and CTO of HP Tuners. Award was presented at a special dinner in Melbourne, by Professor Eduard Hovy, Executive Director of Melbourne Connect at the University of Melbourne. This was the flagship event of the Melbourne Connect Innovation Week.

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Jul 31, 2024

Musica ex Machina

Musica ex Machina: Machines Thinking Musically is an exhibition at EPFL Pavilions in Lausanne, Switzerland, that explores the intersections of algorithmic and computational thinking in music. The exhibition highlights the evolution of these concepts from historical to contemporary contexts, showcasing how technological advances have expanded musical possibilities. A significant part of the exhibition is dedicated to CSIRAC, the first computer to play music, featuring its pioneering role in the history of computer music. CSIRAC's contributions are illustrated through historical documentation and audiovisual installations. More details about the exhibition and its themes can be found here . Details about the associated symposium are here

Jul 19, 2024

2024 WA Award

Peter van der Made, founder and CTO of Brainchip Inc was announced as the 2024 WA Pearcey Entrepreneur Awardee at the 33rd WAITTA Incite Awards in Perth on 19th July 2024.

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May 6, 2024

2023 Pearcey Oration

The 2023 Pearcey Oration, The Quantum Revolution: Australia leads the world into the new age of computing – again!!, was presented by Professor Michelle Simmons AO, on Wednesday 6 September 2023. Professor Simmons gave a passionate and exciting insight into the opportunity for Australia to once again be at the global forefront in manufacturing advanced technology computers.

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Apr 26, 2024

Australia 4.0 Communiqué

Oct 30, 2023

2023 Pearcey Medal

The Pearcey Medal, the most prestigious annual individual award in the Australian ICT industry, in its 25^th year, was awarded to brothers, Aidan and David Tudehope. David and Aiden founded Macquarie Technology Group in 1992 and have guided their company to become a fully integrated carrier, supplying voice, mobile, data networks & managed hosting solutions to business & government users in Australia & Asia.

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Oct 18, 2023

2023 Qld Award

Brisbane, Australia – 18 October 2023 – The Pearcey Foundation today announced Yas Grigaliunas, founder and chief evangelist of Circonomy, as the recipient of the 2023 Queensland ICT Entrepreneur of the Year Award. The Pearcey Foundation also gave a highly commended award to Geoff Augutis.

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Oct 17, 2023

2023 ACT Pearcey Award

At a special Pearcey Foundation roundtable event, Marcus Dawe was awarded the ACT Chief Minister’s Pearcey Entrepreneur Award by the ACT Chief Minister, Andrew Barr. Marcus is CEO of MCi Carbon, a clean energy scale-up that started in Canberra 17 years ago. Marcus has mentored many rising entrepreneurs over last 10 years. This year, the Pearcey Foundation is pleased to announce him as the 2023 ACT Chief Minister’s Pearcey Entrepreneur for his involvement in MCi Carbon.

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Oct 9, 2023

2023 National Awards Gala

25 years ago, the Foundation launched on its mission to celebrate, support and encourage Australians who engage in, and excel at, the invention, development and use of information, communication and computing technologies (ICT) for the betterment of our society.

Building on the work of Dr Trevor Pearcey and his invention of the first digital computer in Australia, which put us at the global forefront of the digital age, we have recognised outstanding Australians:

161 Pearcey Entrepreneur Awards
62 Pearcey Hall of Famers
24 Pearcey Medals

Peer-selection is the hallmark of the Pearcey awards. Selected by past award recipients, this is the community recognising the significant achievements of its peers.

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Oct 9, 2023

Australia 4.0 Summit

A half-day gathering to review the findings from our seven national discussions. The Australia 4.0 discussion series and summit are designed to open the door to substantial innovation and business opportunities throughout the Australian ICT sector.

These activities explore the profound changes required of the Australian electricity system to realise a Net Zero Australia. This outcome demands significant collaboration between the energy and ICT sectors.

The Australia 4.0 Summit is intended to include diverse perspectives, across key stakeholders, exploring the opportunities for the Australian ICT sector to contribute to the transition to Net Zero of the Australian electricity system.

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Oct 4, 2023

2023 NSW Award

The 2023 Pearcey Entrepreneur of the Year award for NSW was presented to Emma Weston, co-founder and CEO of AgriDigital, on 4 October at ASX. The award was presented by Wayne Fitzsimmons, OAM. Under Emma's leadership, AgriDigital has become a pioneering force in digitalising global agricultural supply chains, connecting farmers directly to consumers.

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Oct 4, 2023

Ada Lovelace Day 2023

Ada Lovelace Day honours all the innovative women in STEM, commemorating their ingenuity that has changed the course of history.

Proudly sponsored by the Pearcey Foundation.

The Monash University Faculty of IT is exploring the role of Australian women in early digital computing – and the opportunities in the future. Join us for insightful speeches, a thought-provoking panel discussion and networking over a light lunch in our celebration ‘Australian women in IT yesterday, today and tomorrow’ which will be opened by Professor Ann Nicholson, the first female Dean of our faculty. It will then venture into the life of Ada Lovelace and how women can carry on her legacy of impact today and tomorrow.

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Sep 30, 2023

2023 VIC Pearcey Award

The 2023 Victorian Pearcey Entrepreneur Award presented to Didier Elzinga, founder and CEO of Culture Amp. Award was presented at a special dinner in Melbourne, by the Honourable Ben Carroll MP, Minister for Industry & Innovation, State Government of Victoria. A flagship event of the Victorian Digital Innovation Festival and of the Melbourne Connect Innovation Week

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Australia's First Digital Computer on ABC Sunday Extra

Sep 6, 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

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Aug 14, 2023

Australia 4.0 DIF Session

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Nov 11, 2022

2022 Pearcey Medal

The 2022 Pearcey Medal was presented to John De Margheriti, widely seen as a founding 'father' of Australia's video games industry. The presentation was made in Hobart by Hon Madeleine Ogilvie MP, Tasmanian Minister for Science and Technology at a gala dinner held in conjunction with the Australian Computer Society (ACS) and TasICT.

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From ‘Tinkering’ on the Farm to Innovative Custom Drone Solutions: Tasmanian Entrepreneur Andrew Davies Recognised by Pearcey

Nov 11, 2022

From ‘Tinkering’ on the Farm to Innovative Custom Drone Solutions: Tasmanian Entrepreneur Andrew Davies Recognised by Pearcey

The Pearcey Foundation today announced Andrew Davies, founder and CEO of Taz Drone Solutions, as the recipient of the 2022 Tasmanian Pearcey Entrepreneur of the Year Award.

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Nov 11, 2022

2022 Pearcey Hall of Fame

The Pearcey Foundation announced that John De Margheriti, Len Rust and Beven Slattery were elevated to the Pearcey Hall of Fame. The presentations were made as part of the 2022 Pearcey National Awards at a gala dinner held in conjunction with the Australian Computer Society (ACS) and TasICT in Hobart.

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Nov 11, 2022

2022 Pearcey Entrepreneur Award

The 2022 Pearcey National Entrepreneur Award was presented to Dr. Mark Englund founder and CEO of FiberSense, by Hon Madeleine Ogilvie MP, Minister for Science and Technology. The award was presented in Hobart as part of the prestigious 2022 Pearcey National Awards held in conjunction with the Australian Computer Society (ACS) and TasICT.

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Nov 11, 2022

2022 Tas Award

The Tasmanian Pearcey Entrepreneur for 2022 was presented to Andrew Davies, founder and CEO of Taz Drone Solutions, by Hon Madeleine Ogilvie MP, Minister for Science and Technology. The presentation was part of the Pearcey Foundation's National Event at the TasICT Conference Gala Dinner on the evening of Friday November 11^th at the C3 Convention Center in Hobart.

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It is Rocket Science: Co-founder of Fleet Space Technologies Flavia Tata Nardini Recognised by Pearcey Foundation

Nov 4, 2022

It is Rocket Science: Co-founder of Fleet Space Technologies Flavia Tata Nardini Recognised by Pearcey Foundation

The Pearcey Foundation today announced co-founder and CEO of Fleet Space Technologies, Flavia Tata Nardini, as the recipient of the 2022 South Australian Pearcey Entrepreneur of the Year Award.

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Nov 4, 2022

2022 SA Award

The 2022 SA Pearcey Entrepreneur was presented to Flavia Tata Nadini, CEO and Co-Founder, Fleet Space Technologies. The presentation was made by Mohann Koo at a special event at the Stone and Chalk Startup and Scaleup Hub.

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Oct 31, 2022

2022 NSW Award

The 2022 NSW Pearcey Entrepreneur of the Year award was presented to Dr. Mark Englund of FiberSense, by David Thodey, AO, on October 31 at the Sydney Startup Hub. Founded in 2015, FiberSense provides SONAR like sensing capabilities over optical fiber telecoms cables, providing awareness of objects and events near the fibre cable infrastructure. The service is being taken up by the world’s most valuable companies including Amazon, Google and Meta..

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Senses Working Overtime: Optical Fibre Innovator Dr Mark Englund Receives 2022 NSW Pearcey Entrepreneur of the Year Award

Oct 30, 2022

Senses Working Overtime: Optical Fibre Innovator Dr Mark Englund Receives 2022 NSW Pearcey Entrepreneur of the Year Award

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Global Drone Solutions’ Mahmood Hussein ‘Top Gun’ in Western Australian Pearcey Awards

Aug 26, 2022

Global Drone Solutions’ Mahmood Hussein ‘Top Gun’ in Western Australian Pearcey Awards

The 2021 Pearcey National Entrepreneur Award was presented to the co-founder and CTO of DTEX Systems Mohan Koo by South Australian Premier Steven Marshall. The presentation was broadcast live on a national Zoom call, as part of the Pearcey Foundation's National Awards event.

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Nov 15, 2021

2021 SA Award

The 2021 Pearcey Entrepreneur Award was presented to Mohan Koo, co-founder and Chief Technology Officer of world leading cybersecurity provider DTEX Systems. The Award was presented at a small ceremony on 15 November 2021 at Lot 14 in Adelaide, attended by Pearcey Committee members, previous Pearcey Entrepreneur Awardeees, and special guests Andrew Nunn, SA Chief Entrepreneur and Alan Noble, ex CTO, Google.

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Nov 12, 2021

2021 Tas Award

Nina McMahon, co-founder and CEO of PopUp WiFi was the recipient of the 2021 Tasmanian Pearcey Entrepreneur of the Year Award. This year's award was presented on 12 November in Hobart during the gala industry dinner following TasICT's Annual Conference and in collaboration with the Tasmanian Branch of ACS as well as TasICT.

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Oct 14, 2021

2021 NSW Award

The NSW Entrepreneur of the Year was awarded to brother and sister team Jordan O'Reilly and Laura O'Reilly OAM. The presentation was held online on October 14, as part of Spark Festival. Jordan and Laura have cofounded both not-for-profit and profit-for-purpose businesses helping people with disabilities and their families manage their needs and support services. Over the last ten years, they have helped hundreds of thousands of people and proven that for-purpose business can have significant social impact.

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Her Story: Partnerships between Humans and Machines

Oct 12, 2021

Her Story: Partnerships between Humans and Machines

Pearcey Conversations online seminar 12 October 2021 celebrated Ada Lovelace Day with a look at some remarkable achievements that women have made in STEM.

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Oct 6, 2021

2021 Qld Award

Brisbane, Australia - 6 October 2021 - The Pearcey Foundation today announced Michael Holmstrom, CEO and co-founder of STEM Punks as this year's recipient of the Queensland Pearcey ICT Entrepreneur Award.

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Sep 28, 2021

2021 ACT Award

Canberra 28 Sep 2021: The Pearcey Foundation today announced Daniel Shaddock, founder and CEO of Liquid Instruments as this year's recipient of the ACT Chief Minister's Pearcey Entrepreneur Award. The award was presented by Andrew Barr, ACT Chief Minister at the Annual ACT Pearcey Round Table (held virtually this year).

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Sep 12, 2021

Vale Clive Finkelstein

One of Australia's foremost computer scientists passed away peacefully in Perth on the 12^th September 2021. Recognised for his work in defining Information Engineering, when he presented the concept at the 1980 IFIPS conference in Melbourne. Clive was elevated to the Pearcey Hall of Fame in 2008 at a memorable ceremony in Sydney.

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Sep 1, 2021

2021 Vic Award

The 2021 Victorian Pearcey Entrepreneur Award was presented to Bronwyn Le Grice, founder and CEO of ANDHealth. The award, in its 23^rd year, was presented by the Honourable Mr Danny Pearson MLA, Assistant Treasurer, Minister for Regulatory Reform, Government Services and Creative Industries.

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Sep 1, 2021

2021 Pearcey Oration

The 2021 Pearcey Oration "Digital Transformation - Australia as a World Leader" was given by Jeremy Hirschhorn, ATO Second Commissioner on Wednesday 1 September 2021 and gave an insight into the most digitised revenue agency on the planet, the Australian Taxation Office (ATO).

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Aug 30, 2021

Vale Prof. Reg Coutts

Reg Coutts, 2018 Pearcey Hall of Fame, was an ebullient character, well known in telecommunications and ICT circles, always self-deprecating, always positive and constructive about his colleagues. Reg was an effective, well-liked and respected leader in Australian ICT, whose sense of humour was infectious. Reg will be missed by many Australians - he made a real contribution to our great nation.

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Aug 25, 2021

2021 The Future of Work Roundtable

The DIF2021 Roundtable covered an in-depth dialogue around the Future of Work, starting with the recently published report from Swinburne University of Technology’s Centre for the New Workforce "National Survey Report: Peak Human Workplace, Innovation in the unprecedented era".

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Aug 3, 2021

Charlie Day

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.

Aug 3, 2021

Alex Zelinsky AO

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.

Aug 3, 2021

Founder

Oct 13, 2020

2020 NSW Award

In a widely attended Pearcey virtual event, Jamila Gordon received the 2020 NSW Pearcey Entrepreneur of the Year Award. Jamila is the CEO and founder of Lumachain, a technology platform using AI, IoT and blockchain to bring transparency to global supply chains, benefitting producers, enterprises and consumers. Jamila was presented with her award by 2014 Pearcey Medallist and inaugural Ada Lovelace Medallist Professor Mary O'Kane.

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Celebrating Women's Contribution to Australia's Digital Age

Oct 13, 2020

Celebrating Women's Contribution to Australia's Digital Age

Recognising the amazing contributions of female Australians to the digital age. Held on Ada Lovelace Day and supported by the Tech Girls Movement Foundation.

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A letter to my younger self, Helen Vorrath

Oct 12, 2020

A letter to my younger self, Helen Vorrath

Guest blog by Helen Vorrath

So you’ve decided to become an IT professional when you grow up? Good choice! You’ve already discovered the satisfaction of getting a program to work – that will continue to excite you for the rest of your life. You’ll also find that debugging the things that don’t work is equally rewarding.

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A letter to my younger self, Ann Moffatt

Oct 12, 2020

A letter to my younger self, Ann Moffatt

Guest blog by Ann Moffatt

This is an extract from Ann Moffatt’s book, The IT Girl, which is to be published in November 2020.

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Oct 6, 2020

2020 Qld Award

2020 Queensland Pearcey Award winner Nick Therkelsen-Terry, CEO and Founder of Max Kelsen. Nicholas Therkelsen-Terry - CEO and Co-Founder, Max Kelsen - was awarded the 2020 Queensland Pearcey Entrepreneur of the Year Award at a gala dinner held on the 6 th October at the St Lucia Golf Club in Brisbane.

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The History and Future of Wi-Fi: from Radiata to Morse Micro to Beyond!

Sep 30, 2020

The History and Future of Wi-Fi: from Radiata to Morse Micro to Beyond!

Pearcey Conversations online seminar 30 September 2020 covered a retrospective from three key figures behind Radiata, the Australian startup that commercialized the Wifi chip conceived at the CSIRO Radiophysics in Sydney in the early 1990s.

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Gender no barrier for Dr Skaidrite Darius

Sep 28, 2020

Gender no barrier for Dr Skaidrite Darius

This graduation season, we are proud to announce that Skaidrite Darius has received an honorary doctorate from the ANU College of Engineering and Computer Science.

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A legacy of computing excellence – Jan Kornweibel

Sep 24, 2020

A legacy of computing excellence – Jan Kornweibel

From the start she thrived on this new technology that used abstract logic, and still relishes looking back at those early,
adventurous days with all card systems and low-level programming languages.

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Sep 22, 2020

2020 ACT Award

Canberra, Australia - 22 September 2020 - The Pearcey Foundation today announced Shane Hill, founder of Skoolbo as this year's recipient of the ACT Chief Minister's Pearcey Entrepreneur Award. The award was presented by Senator (retd) Kate Lundy representing the ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr at the Pearcey Round Table 2020 event in Canberra.

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The rise and fall of semiconductor manufacturing in Australia

Sep 22, 2020

The rise and fall of semiconductor manufacturing in Australia

Guest blog by Bernie O’Shannessy

Following the invention and development of the transistor in the late1940’s in the USA, the CSIRO began research into semiconductors.

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The Role of the ICT Community in the Future Resilience and Self-Reliance of Australia

Sep 3, 2020

The Role of the ICT Community in the Future Resilience and Self-Reliance of Australia

Guest blog by Jordan Green

On August 9th the Pearcey Foundation hosted a Conversation on the Role of the ICT Community in the Future Resilience and Self-reliance of Australia.

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Sep 3, 2020

SNOCOM and CIRRUS

Sixty years ago Australians designed and built two of the first transistorised computers called SNOCOM and CIRRUS. They were very advanced for their era.

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Sep 2, 2020

2020 Pearcey Oration

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Oct 15, 2019

2019 Qld Award

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Nov 1, 2018

2018 Pearcey Hall of Fame

Dr Dennis Cooper, Emeritus Professor Robin Stanton, and Dr Reg Coutts were elevated to the Pearcey Hall of Fame at the ACS National Awards dinner in Melbourne on Thursday 1st November 2018 in front of over 800 people.

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Oct 10, 2018

2018 Qld Award

The 2018 Pearcey Queensland Entrepreneur Award was presented to Peter Laurie at an ICT Awards night hosted by the Pearcey Foundation with the Queensland ACS and CICTA (Council of ICT Associations in Queensland).

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Oct 4, 2018

2018 TAS Award

The 2018 Tasmanian Pearcey Entrepreneur Award was presented to Dr Gary McDarby on Thursday 4 October at the Hobart Convention Centre. The award was presented by the Hon Michael Ferguson, Minister for Science and Technology as part of an ACS event that recognises the Tasmanian nominees for the ACS National Disruptor Awards.

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Sep 7, 2018

2018 Ballarat Heritage Event

The Pearcey Foundation held a special Heritage Event on Friday 7th September 2018 at Federation University in Ballarat. The event ran from 3pm - 5:30pm and was entitled Celebrating the Past; Informing the Present; Inspiring the Future.

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Sep 4, 2018

2018 ACT Award

Ken Kroeger, CEO of Seeing Machines, was presented the 2018 ACT Chief Minister's Pearcey Entrepreneur Award. The award was presented by ACT Chief Digital Officer Bettina Konti, representing the ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr, at ACS Canberra's 25^th Annual Conference on 4 September 2018.

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Aug 28, 2018

2018 Pearcey Day Heritage Panel

At the 2018 Pearcey Day, the Heritage session brought together representatives of major organisations, and individuals, concerned with preservation of our ICT heritage. The topic was: Current ICT Heritage Collections - Where they are, what they are and plans for the future?

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Aug 28, 2018

2018 Pearcey Oration

The 2018 Pearcey Oration was delivered by Mr Paul Shetler, a technologist and entrepreneur with more than 20 years of experience working on large projects in the technology industry and in guiding major government digital initiatives. The provocative talk was entitled "Be Bold Australia!".

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Aug 28, 2018

Colloquiums and Roundtables

As an independent organisation, the Pearcey Institute hosts colloquiums and roundtables of national importance around ICT and Australia's digital future.

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Aug 28, 2018

2018 Vic Award

The 2018 Victorian Pearcey Entrepreneur Award was presented to Bernie Tschirren and Michael Cameron on Tuesday 28th August at the Monash Chambers, Melbourne. The award was presented by Dr Amanda Caples, Chief Scientist, Victoria as part of a special Pearcey Day(PDF, 107 KB).

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Aug 28, 2018

2018 SA Award

The 2018 SA Pearcey Entrepreneur Award was presented to Tony Clark as part of the ACS Branch forum, on Tuesday 28th August 2018 at at SAHMRI, North Terrace in Adelaide. The award was presented by Professor Mike Miller (2017 Pearcey Medallist) who said "this award celebrates and honours a South Australian entrepreneur who has not only been innovative and creative, but also for achieving real long-term commercial success, both locally and globally".

Former WA deputy premier and 2012 Pearcey Medalist Mal Bryce has been remembered as "ahead of his time and a champion of innovation and technology" after the long-serving Labor stalwart died at the age of 74, on the 3rd March 2018.

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Dec 19, 2017

2017 Industry News

24 July 2017 - Steve Baxter set to be the next Queensland's chief entrepreneur (SmartCompany article)

4 July 2017 - US Award for Bill Caelli AO. Bill Caeli AO was awarded the Founders' Medal by the Colloquium for Information Systems Security Education (CISSE). (ACS article)

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Nov 2, 2017

2017 Pearcey Entrepreneur Award

The 2017 Pearcey National Entrepreneur Award was presented to Cyan & Collis Ta'eed at the ACS 2017 Digital Disruptor Awards gala dinner on 2 November 2017 at Sydney's Star Ballroom in Pyrmont. The Award was presented by Dr Mary O'Kane, NSW Chief Scientist and Engineer, and also the 2014 Pearcey Medallist.

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Nov 2, 2017

2017 Pearcey Hall of Fame

At a gala dinner held on Thursday 2 November, 2017 at Sydney's Star in Pyrmont, Emeritus Professor Mike Miller AO, Senator (retired) Kate Lundy and Helen Meredith were inducted into the Pearcey Hall of Fame.

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Nov 2, 2017

2017 Pearcey Medal

At a gala dinner held on Thursday 2 November 2017 at Sydney's Star Pyrmont NSW, Emeritus Professor Mike Miller AO was presented the 2017 Pearcey Medal by Dr Tim Wark, Director of Product, Programs & Marketing of Data61 at CSIRO.

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Australian Entrepreneurs Recognised At 2017 Pearcey Awards

Nov 2, 2017

Australian Entrepreneurs Recognised At 2017 Pearcey Awards

Press Release - Kate Lundy, Helen Meredith, Dr Mike Miller and Collis and Cyan Ta'eed recognised at the National Pearcey Foundation Awards

Sydney, Australia - 2 November 2017 - The Pearcey Foundation today announced its National Entrepreneur of the Year, Hall of Fame inductees and Pearcey Medal winner. The winners were presented as part of the ACS National Digital Disruptor Awards and Reimagination event held in Sydney on Thursday, 2 November 2017.

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Oct 24, 2017

2017 NSW Award

The 2017 NSW Pearcey Tech Entrepreneur of the Year was awarded to Airtasker co-founders Tim Fung and Jonathan Lui. Several other Awards were presented in a packed PowerHouse Museum on Tuesday October 24. The Pearcey award was presented by Chairman of Jobs for NSW and Chair of CSIRO David Thodey.

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Oct 4, 2017

2017 Qld Award

The 2017 Pearcey Queensland Entrepreneur Award was presented to Jenine Beekhuyzen OAM at an ICT Awards night hosted by the Pearcey Foundation with the Queensland ACS and CICTA (Council of ICT Associations in Queensland).

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Sep 20, 2017

2017 SA Award

The 2017 SA Pearcey Entrepreneur Award was presented to Geoff Rohrsheim as part of the ACS Leaders Lunch on Wednesday 20th September 2017.

Sandy Plunkett is perplexed by how entrenched Australia's "waiting for government" mindset is

When economists Paul Frijters and Gigi Foster released a study in 2015arguing Australia was a plutocracy where our richest amass their wealth by political connections rather than innovative endeavour, the struggling tech startup community should have been all over the data.

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Jul 6, 2017

Beware the wolves of Silicon Valley

Sandy Plunkett shares her perspective on recent industry events and calls out how money, fame, power and hubris inevitably brings with it bad behaviour

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Jul 2, 2017

Passing of Frank Hirst

It is a sad day for Australia's ICT industry with the passing of one of Australia's early computer pioneers, Frank Hirst. After service in World War II, Frank completed his PhD at the University of Melbourne and in 1954 was appointed to head the university's newly formed Computation Laboratory.

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Jun 16, 2017

2017 WA Award

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Oct 26, 2016

2016 SA Award

The 2016 Pearcey South Australian Award was presented to Stewart Bartlett at an ACS lunch on Wednesday October 26. Stuart is co-founder of Signostics and Global Head of Urologic Care.

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Oct 24, 2016

2016 Qld Award

The 2016 Queensland Pearcey Entrepreneur Award was presented to Aaron Birkby. The Award was presented at the ACS Queensland 50^th birthday celebration dinner on Monday 24 October at BCEC by the Hon Chris Whiting, State Member of Parliament for the Seat of Murrumba, just north of Brisbane.

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Oct 18, 2016

2016 NSW Award

The NSW Pearcey Tech Entrepreneur of the Year Awards were presented in a packed NSW Parliament House on Tuesday 18th October at NSW Parliament House, at 5.30pm by the Hon Victor Dominello, NSW Minister for Innovation and Better Regulation. The overall winner, was Richard White, Founder and CEO of WiseTechGlobal with Hall of Fame Awards going to the founders of Avoka, Digivizer, Expert360, Invoice2Go, Saasu, Sentral Education, Showpo, Tyro and WiseTech Global.

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Sep 6, 2016

2016 Vic Award

The 2016 Victorian Pearcey Entrepreneur Award was presented to Martin Hosking at a special Pearcey event Tuesday 6th September in Melbourne as part of the Victorian Government Digital Innovation Festival.

The Award was presented by Dr Amanda Caples, Lead Scientist to the Victorian Government, who also gave the 2016 Pearcey Oration.

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Sep 6, 2016

2016 Pearcey Oration

The 2016 Pearcey Oration was delivered by Dr Amanda Caples, Victoria's Lead Scientist and Deputy Secretary, Sector Development Division of theDepartment of Economic Development, Jobs, Transport and Resources.

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Sep 2, 2016

2016 Digital Innovation Festival

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Nov 16, 2015

2015 A3.0 Forum

On Monday 16 November, a lively Australia 3.0 forum took place at Data61/NICTA's HQ in Eveleigh. The topic entitled "The Lucky Country Disrupted" was a play on Donald Horne's 1964 book "The Lucky Country" suggesting that Australia's days of riding a wave may be nearly over.

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Nov 3, 2015

2015 Tas Award

The winner of the 2015 Tasmanian Pearcey Award was James Riggall. Commercially, James is MD of BitLink and he is also an active member of the Tasmanian startup community. James is the president of Startup Tasmania and one of the founders of both the Innovation Circle and Macquarie House Innovation Hub in Launceston, Tasmania.

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Today’s smart machines owe much to Australia's first computer

Oct 22, 2015

Today’s smart machines owe much to Australia's first computer

Australia's first computer weighed two tonnes, filled a large room and had a tiny fraction of the capacity of today's typical smartphone. But why would such a machine continue to be relevant today?

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Oct 20, 2015

2015 NSW Award

The 2015 NSW Tech Entrepreneur of the Year Awards were presented at NSW Parliament by the Hon Victor Dominello, NSW Minister for Innovation and Better Regulation, on behalf of the Pearcey Foundation and the technology industry with the pinnacle award, the winners special recognition award, going to Melanie Perkins, co-founder and CEO of Canva.

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Oct 7, 2015

2015 Vic Award

The 2015 Victorian Pearcey Entrepreneur Award was presented to Alison Hardacre at the ACS Branch Forum on Wednesday 7th October in Melbourne. Alison was recognised for being both an outstanding person and, via her company HealthKit, making disruptive changes in the very challenging health industry.

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Digital disruption 2015 – it’s real and it’s now!

Sep 28, 2015

Digital disruption 2015 – it’s real and it’s now!

Digital Disruption is something that all (or almost all) of us are aware. We see the impact of Airbnb, Uber, realestate.com, Seek and so on. Some disruptions are welcomed but many are not; and so, understandably, significant negative reactions appear.

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Sep 16, 2015

Pearcey welcomes new PM

The Pearcey Foundation welcomes appointment of the new Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull who was sworn in as the 29th Prime Minister of Australia on 15 September 2015.

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Background to the Pearcey Institute July 2015

Jul 15, 2015

Background to the Pearcey Institute July 2015

The Pearcey Foundation (PF) has long envisaged the establishment of an Australian digital economy research institute - the Pearcey Institute (PI). It would be an independent multi-disciplinary studies institute capable of analysing the strategic economic impact of advanced technologies on our nation with particular emphasis on disruptive technologies that the ICT sector continues to introduce globally.

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Jun 25, 2015

2015 Qld Award

he 2015 Queensland Pearcey Entrepreneur Award was presented to prominent young Queensland businessman Wayne Gerard on Thursday, 25 June 2015 at the EDGE Auditorium, Queensland State Library. Wayne is a passionate digital entrepreneur and business leader in Queensland having been a founder of several companies including RedEye, Waterline Projects and SDG.

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Jun 23, 2015

2015 ACT Award

The 2015 ACT Pearcey Entrepreneur Award was presented to Mr Greg Boorer at the Digital Canberra gala dinner in the Gandel Hall of the National Gallery of Australia. Mr Boorer is a well-known identity in the ICT industry in the nation's capital having started Canberra Data Centres (CDC) just eight years ago in 2007. Today CDC is the dominant data centre vendor in the ACT with more than 40 Federal and ACT government agencies as customers.

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May 7, 2015

Reshaping ICT Summit 2015

Recognising the significant disruption now occurring in the Australian economy driven by digital technologies, rapid growth in computing power and global online connectivity, the ACS in partnership with the Pearcey Foundation will host a Thought Leaders' Summit, "REIMAGINATION, to reshape Australia's digital future" on 17 November 2015.

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Nov 6, 2014

2014 NSW Award

The 2014 NSW Tech Entrepreneur of the Year Award was presented to Ben Richardson and Dave Greiner, founders of Campaign Monitor and Tim Power, managing director for 3P Learning.

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Aug 29, 2014

2014 Pearcey Oration

The 2014 Pearcey Oration as delivered By Senator Kate Lundy on the 29th August 2014 at the 2014 iAwards Lunch hosted by Ms Kathy Coultas, Vic Gov, at the Melbourne Convention Centre.

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Aug 29, 2014

2014 Pearcey Hall of Fame

At the 2014 iAwards Gala dinner held on Friday evening 29 August 2014 at Melbourne's Exhibition and Convention Centre, three eminent Australians were elevated to the Pearcey Hall of Fame - Mary O'Kane AC, Peter Vogel and Dr Bob Frater AO.

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Aug 29, 2014

2014 Pearcey Medal

Mary O'Kane AC, BSc., PhD., FATSE., FIEAust. was awarded the 2014 Pearcey Medal at a gala dinner held on Friday evening 29th August at the Melbourne Convention Centre.

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Jul 18, 2014

2014 Digital Economy Submission

Pearcey Foundation’s input to the Victorian Government’s Digital Economy strategy

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Jul 3, 2014

2014 Tas Award

As part of the 2014 Tasmanian iAwards gala evening event held on Thursday 3 July 2014 at the Henry Jones Art Hotel in Hobart, the Minister for State Growth, Minister for Energy and Minister for Environment, Parks and Heritage., the Hon. Mathew Groom MP presented the 2014 Pearcey Tasmania Entrepreneur Award to James Cuda.

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Jun 12, 2014

2013-14 Qld Award

At a gala Queensland iAwards event held at the Brisbane convention Centre on 12 June, Senator Steven Conroy, Federal Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy presented the 2013 Queensland Pearcey Entrepreneur of the Year to Andrew Jessett, CEO and Founder of Mineware.

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Jun 7, 2014

2014 SA Award

At a gala iAwards luncheon held on Friday 27 June 2014 at the Adelaide Convention Centre, the Premier of South Australia, the Hon. Jay Weatherill MP, presented the 2014 Pearcey SA Entrepreneur Award to Dr Henry Detmold.

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Jun 4, 2014

2014 Vic Award

The 2014 Victorian Pearcey Entrepreneur Award was presented to Bevan Clark and Guy King as part of the Victorian iAwards ceremony held on Wednesday 4th June in the Telstra Theatrette, Melbourne.

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Apr 29, 2014

2014 Benson Award

John De Margheriti was awarded the 2014 Benson Entrepreneur Award at the 2014 gala national iAwards event held on August 29th 2014 in Melbourne

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Event	Date
Australia 4.0 Summit	5 virtual debates each Friday from 17 Oct
National Awards (Melbourne)	21 Nov 2025

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IT Innovation in AU joint Study

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Grandmother of the Web

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Musica ex Machina

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Australia 4.0 Summit

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Ada Lovelace Day 2023

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Australia's First Digital Computer on ABC Sunday Extra

Australia 4.0 DIF Session

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Vale Harry Wragge AM

Australia 4.0 Session # 6 - Critical Digital Technologies

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Australia 4.0 Session # 3 - Network Intelligence

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Australia 4.0 Session #1

Vale Max Burnet OAM (1941-2023)

Australia 4.0 - path to Net Zero

Vale Brian Finn AO - 1937-2023

Our Latest IT Industry Greats: Pearcey Foundation Presents its 2022 National Awards

2022 Pearcey Medal

From ‘Tinkering’ on the Farm to Innovative Custom Drone Solutions: Tasmanian Entrepreneur Andrew Davies Recognised by Pearcey

2022 Pearcey Hall of Fame

2022 Pearcey Entrepreneur Award

2022 Tas Award

It is Rocket Science: Co-founder of Fleet Space Technologies Flavia Tata Nardini Recognised by Pearcey Foundation

2022 SA Award

2022 NSW Award

Senses Working Overtime: Optical Fibre Innovator Dr Mark Englund Receives 2022 NSW Pearcey Entrepreneur of the Year Award

2022 Qld Award

2022 Queensland Pearcey ICT Entrepreneur Award Recognises Two Award-winning Female Entrepreneurs

Delivering More than the Sum of its Parts: Instaclustr co-founders receive 2022 ACT Chief Minister's Pearcey Entrepreneur Award

2022 ACT Pearcey Award

2022 Pearcey Oration

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