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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 Computing and Telecommunication (ICT) technologies 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.

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This is our 27^th year of awards, focussed exclusively on outstanding individuals drawn from across our vast geography.

We present 12 awards each year, and have done so for a long time - recognising over 245 Australian ICT luminaries and entrepreneurs, as highlighted on this website.

Latest News

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

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.

Jul 23, 2021

2021 WA Award

The 2021 WA Pearcey Entrepreneur Award was presented to Charlie Gunningham, Founder and Principal Damburst as part the 30th WAITTA Incite Honorary Awards on Friday 23 July 2021.

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Jul 19, 2021

Who came to the first computer conference?

Guest blog by Barbara Ainsworth

In August 1951, a group of scientists gathered at the University of Sydney to attend the first Australian conference on automatic computing machines.

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Jul 6, 2021

The beginning of a new science in Australia

Guest blog by Barbara Ainsworth

In 1951 there was a major conference held at the University of Sydney which marked the beginning of a new science in Australia, Computer Science.

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Jun 30, 2021

Impact of Data Sovereignty on Cybersecurity and Reliability

An esteemed online panel looks at the challenge of security, which may require data to be kept resident in a given country, versus operations, which may require data to be replicated in multiple jurisdictions for reliability.

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Jun 16, 2021

Wayne Gerard named 2021 Qld Chief Entrepreneur

Congratulations to Wayne Gerard on his appointment as Queensland's new Chief Entrepreneur. Wayne is passionate about innovation, start-ups, and Queensland as a place to live, work and play. So it's no surprise that his appointment recognises his outstanding leadership over many years… In fact, it is six years since he was voted by his peers as Queensland's 2015 Pearcey Entrepreneur of the Year.

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Jun 15, 2021

CSIRAC: How to name your computer

Guest blog by Barbara Ainsworth

On June 14, 1956 the computer CSIRAC was officially recommissioned at the new Computation Laboratory at the University of Melbourne.

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Apr 28, 2021

Tech Scribes - Telling the Stories of Digital Disruption

The inside story of technology journalism and the rapidly changing landscape of technology news reporting in newspapers, magazines, special publications through to the modern day media platforms.

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Apr 8, 2021

The media takes a ride on the digital superhighway

Guest blog by Helen Meredith

The recent publication of A Vision Splendid – The History of Australian Computing is a timely reminder of the seventy years or so Australia has been involved in the digital revolution.

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Mar 31, 2021

Australian Sound Engineering

A fascinating look at the history, challenges and highlights in Australian sound engineering.

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Feb 27, 2021

Vale Graeme Philipson

It’s with great sadness that the Pearcey Foundation learnt of the sudden death this week of renowned IT journalist, historian, writer and researcher Graeme Philipson.

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Jan 30, 2021

Catchup with Owen Hill

Given the COVID travel restrictions placed on all of us, Chair Wayne Fitzsimmons and Deputy Chair Kelly Hutchinson managed to catch up in person with Medallist Jenny Seberry and Hall of Famer Owen Hill by travelling to NSW after Victoria's border restrictions were lifted in early December 2020. We managed to meet Jenny in Wollongong at that time and succeeded in meeting up with Owen on 30 January 2021 in Maitland.

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Dec 31, 2020

2020 Highlights

The Pearcey Foundation had a busy year in 2020. Highlights include our National and State Awards, the Pearcey Oration and our monthly "Conversations" webinars on many areas important to Australia's ICT policy, heritage, and innovations.

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Dec 8, 2020

The IT Girl by Ann Moffatt

This is a remarkable book. It is frank, insightful and at times hard hitting.
It traces the life, loves and career path, in UK and Australia, of a courageous and very competent woman from the earliest days of the computer age, through to the current times.

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Nov 29, 2020

Connections in the History of Australian Computing

This paper gives an overview of early Australian computing milestones up to about 1970 and demonstrates a mesh of influences. Wartime radar, initially from Britain, provided basic experience for many computing engineers. This is an excellent perspective on how Australia influenced the development of the digital computer as we know it today.

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Nov 26, 2020

The world’s biggest non-IBM IBM network

Nobody much remembers it now, but 40 years ago Australia built one of the world’s largest computer networks. In 1981 Australia’s Department of Social Security (DSS) began planning an ambitious network to connect all of its 210 Australian offices in real time.

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Nov 25, 2020

2020 Pearcey Medal

Professor Jennifer Seberry was presented the prestigious Pearcey Medal as part of the 2020 Pearcey National Awards. The Pearcey Medal recognises a distinguished lifetime achievement and contribution to the development and growth of the ICT industry in Australia.

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Nov 25, 2020

2020 Pearcey Entrepreneur Award

The 2020 Pearcey National Entrepreneur Award was presented to Grant Petty, CEO of Blackmagic Design. The announcement was made during the 2020 Pearcey Foundation National Event, this year being a ‘virtual’ celebration held on 25 November 2020 on a national Zoom broadcast.

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Nov 25, 2020

2020 Pearcey Hall of Fame

Emeritus Professor Jennifer Seberry, Jeff Whittle AO and Owen Hill were elevated to the Pearcey Hall of Fame at the annual Pearcey National Awards event held on Wednesday 25^th November 2020 over a Zoom call.

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Nov 25, 2020

Technology Predictions for 2021 and Beyond

Predictions and valuable insights from industry leaders about our technology future.

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Nov 25, 2020

2020 WA Award

The 2020 WA Pearcey Entrepreneur Award recipient is Greg Riebe, co-founder of Entrepreneurs in Residence. This Award was part the 29th WAITTA Incite Honorary Awards announced on Wednesday 25 November 2020.

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Nov 24, 2020

2020 Eureka Science Award to Sydney Uni's "Sydney Nano"

Sydney Uni's Nano Centre in Department of Physics was awarded the 2020 Eureka Prize for Outstanding Science in protecting Australia. By harnessing the delicate interaction between light and sound, Professor Ben Eggleton and his team have produced a microchip that provides a unique advantage for defence platforms.

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Nov 18, 2020

2020 SA Award

The 2020 SA Pearcey Entrepreneur Award winner is Dr Michelle Perugini. On informing Michelle of the award, Geoff Rohrsheim representing the SA Pearcey judging committee, said that Michelle was surprised and honoured by accolade and hoped she could continue to inspire young women into technology related fields. Due to Covide restrictions (Adelaide is currently in lockdown) a more formal event for the presentation is planned later in the month.

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Nov 9, 2020

Appointment of Dr Cathy Foley as Chief Scientist Australia

Dr Cathy Foley AO, currently CSIRO Chief Scientist, and from December 2020, will become Chief Scientist of Australia. Cathy has made distinguished contributions to the understanding of superconducting materials and to the development of devices using superconductors for a number of applications including to detect magnetic fields and locate valuable deposits of minerals.

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Nov 5, 2020

2020 Tas Award

Technology entrepreneur, software developer and electrical engineer Mike Cruse was awarded the 2020 Tasmanian Pearcey Entrepreneur of the Year. Mike is the founder and CEO of Definium Technologies, a company based in Launceston that designs and manufactures IoT devices and electronic products for national and international clients, as well as owning and operating a state-wide LoRaWAN network in Tasmania to support IoT deployments.

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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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

2020 Pearcey Oration was given by John Blackburn AO on Wednesday 2 September 2020. John explored the very pertinent topic of Resilience, specifically: "How do we address our resilience and preparedness in this age of mistrust?"

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Sep 2, 2020

2020 Vic Award

The 2020 Victorian Pearcey Entrepreneur Award was presented to Grant Petty, founder and CEO of Blackmagic Design. The award, in its 22^nd year, was presented by 2011 award recipient and Deputy Chair of Pearcey Victoria, Dr Elaine Saunders.

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Aug 26, 2020

Tertiary Computer Science - Preparing Future Leaders?

A vibrant discussion about how Australia's education system can meet the demands of our ever increasingly interconnected, heterogeneous, and computer reliant society.

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Jul 29, 2020

Role of the ICT Community in the Future Resilience & Self-Reliance of AU

In the midst of a pandemic it is timely to review Australia's resilience and our ability to cope with unexpected economic, social and technological upheaval.

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Jul 4, 2020

Vale Dr Terry Cutler

Terry Cutler (1948-2020) FATSE PhD Econ History (UNSW), BA History (Melb Uni), passed away on 3 July in Melbourne. Terry was a remarkable contributor to the ICT sector. During 2008 he chaired the Australian Government's Review of the National Innovation System which culminated in the Report, Venturous Australia.

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Jun 30, 2020

Girls, computers and rocket science.

Guest blog by Barbara Ainsworth

A huge opportunity arose in the heady days of Australian rocket science research in the mid-twentieth century for female mathematicians. Job opportunities for female mathematics graduates were not common apart from teaching but there was an alternative. In the 1950s a girl could become a Computer, that is, a human computer who performs mathematical calculations rather than a digital, electronic computer.

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Jun 24, 2020

The History Project: Creating a Virtual Museum

Covers the project to encompass, record and make accessible Australia's ICT heritage. Areas include a continually updated written book, a virtual museum, and a resource to find and highlight the many public and private ICT history collections.

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Jun 16, 2020

Book Review – A Thread Across The Ocean: The Heroic Story of the Transatlantic Cable. By John Steele Gordon

Guest Blog by Sonja Bernhardt OAM

A gripping, masterly telling of a vastly important, but oft forgotten part of our technological history. This is a story of a monumental technological and engineering feat that set the stage for international infrastructure and communications, yet today many do not even think how or why it happened.

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Jun 8, 2020

Dr Jenine Beekhuyzen awarded OAM

Dr Jenine Beekhuyzen, creator of the Tech Girls Are Superheroes campaign, was awarded the Order of Australia Medal (OAM) in the Queens Birthday Honours List for "service to information technology, and to women".

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May 27, 2020

Australia’s first computer conference

In August 1951, a conference was held at Sydney University’s Department of Electrical Engineering. It was the first computer conference ever held in Australia and only the ninth computer conference anywhere in the world.

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May 20, 2020

Passing of two Australian greats - John Deane and Arthur Sale

John Deane and Arthur Sale where outstanding contributors to Australia's ICT. John was both a researcher in areas including smart wireless networks and a historian. Arthur was at the forefront of ICT acedemia in Tasmania for over 25 years.

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May 19, 2020

The COVIDSafe App - Continuing the Conversation

This conversation follows on from various Pearcey roundtables and the Pearcey white papers (28 April 2020, 6 May 2020) about the deployment of the CovidSafe app. The speakers review the ongoing uncertainties and concerns with security, privacy and trust needed for the acceptance of this app within the community.

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May 7, 2020

Follow-up to Pearcey COVIDSafe Paper

Follow-up to Pearcey Foundation's Discussion Paper (28 April) on the Australian Government's COVIDSafe tracing app.

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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

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

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 • Australia 4.0 • ICT Heritage • Pearcey Institute

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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.