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Pearcey Foundation and industry news, commentaries and articles


Nov 13, 2022

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

John de Margheriti awarded the 2022 Pearcey Medal; Len Rust and Bevan Slattery inducted into the Pearcey Hall of Fame; Dr Mark Englund receives National Entrepreneur Award

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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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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 MargheritiLen 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 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 11th at the C3 Convention Center in Hobart.

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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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Oct 30, 2022

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

The Pearcey Foundation today announced founder and CEO of FiberSense, Dr Mark Englund, as the recipient of the 2022 NSW Pearcey Entrepreneur of the Year Award.

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Oct 18, 2022

2022 Qld Award

The 2022 Queensland Pearcey Entrepreneur Award was presented jointly to Rebecca McDonald, founder and CEO of Library for All, and Sarah-Jane Peterschlingmann, managing director and owner of ATech. The awards were presented in Brisbane by Jill Martin, Director of Start Up & Scale Up Programs, Department of Tourism, Innovation and Sport at an event hosted by Monica Bradley.

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Oct 18, 2022

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

The Pearcey Foundation today announced Rebecca McDonald, founder and CEO of Library for All, and Sarah-Jane Peterschlingmann, managing director and owner of ATech, as joint recipients of the 2022 Queensland ICT Entrepreneur of the Year Award.

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Oct 17, 2022

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

The Pearcey Foundation today announced Ben Bromhead and Adam Zegelin (the technical inspiration behind Instaclustr) as this year’s recipients of the ACT Chief Minister’s Pearcey Entrepreneur Award.

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Oct 17, 2022

2022 ACT Pearcey Award

At a special Round Table event, the Chief Minister, with former Senator Kate Lundy announced the winners of the ACT Chief Minister Pearcey Award were Adam Zegelin and Ben Bromhead, the technical inspiration behind Instaclustr. Instaclustr helps organisations deliver applications at scale by operating and supporting their data infrastructure through its SaaS platform for open source technologies.

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Sep 21, 2022

2022 Pearcey Oration

The 2022 Pearcey Oration, "From Pearcey to Quantum", was given by the Honourable Ed Husic MP, Federal Minister for Industry and Science in Melbourne on Wednesday, 21 September 2022. Ed Husic gave a passionate Australian perspective of digital technologies past, present and future.

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Sep 21, 2022

Technology Achievement Inspired by the Arts: Arcitecta’s Jason Lohrey receives the 2022 Pearcey Victorian Entrepreneur Award

The Pearcey Foundation today announced Jason Lohrey, founder and CEO of Arcitecta, as the recipient of the 2022 Pearcey Victorian Entrepreneur Award. The award was presented at an event in Melbourne that also featured the 2022 Pearcey Oration, which was given by The Honourable Ed Husic MP, Federal Minister for Industry and Science.

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Sep 21, 2022

2022 Vic Pearcey Award

The 2022 Victorian Pearcey Entrepreneur Award was presented to Jason Lohrey, founder and CEO/CTO of Arcitecta. The award was presented at a special dinner in Melbourne by Kathy Coultas, Director of Technology & Innovation, Department of Economic Development, State Government of Victoria.

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Sep 20, 2022

NSW Pearcey Entrepreneur Event Oct 31

Please join us for the presentation of 2022 NSW Technology Entrepreneur of the Year to be held at 5pm on 31 Oct 2022 at at the Sydney Startup Hub, 11 York St, Sydney.

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Sep 14, 2022

Federal Minister for Industry and Science, Ed Husic to Give the 2022 Pearcey Oration

The Pearcey Foundation has announced that this year’s Pearcey Oration will be given by The Honourable Ed Husic MP, Federal Minister for Industry and Science. The Oration will feature at a dinner in Melbourne on Wednesday, 21 September 2022 held with the support of Digital Innovation Futures Victoria, an initiative of the State Government of Victoria. The Pearcey Foundation Victorian Entrepreneur of the Year will also be presented at the event.

 

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Aug 26, 2022

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

The Pearcey Foundation today announced Mahmood Hussein, founder and CEO of Global Drone Solutions, as the recipient of the 2022 Western Australian Pearcey Entrepreneur of the Year Award. The award was presented as part of the 31st annual WAITTA INCITE Awards, Western Australia’s longest running Tech Awards program.

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Aug 12, 2022

2022 WA Award

The 2022 WA Pearcey Entrepreneur Award recipient is Mahmood Hussein, Founder and CEO Global Drone Solutions (GDS). The Pearcey Award was part of the 31st WAITTA Incite Awards on Friday 12 August 2022.

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Jun 3, 2022

Opening of Graeme Philipson Library

On June 3, 2022, the Graeme Philipson History of Computing Library was launched. The keynote was given by Dr Peter Thorne AM, Chair of the Heritage Committee project run by the Pearcey Foundation.

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Nov 24, 2021

2021 Pearcey Medal

David Thodey AO, was presented the prestigious Pearcey Medal as part of the 2021 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 24, 2021

2021 Pearcey Hall of Fame

David Thodey AO, Judy Hammond and Alan Noble were elevated to the Pearcey Hall of Fame at the annual Pearcey National Awards event held on Wednesday 24th November 2021 during a virtual presentation held via Zoom.

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Nov 12, 2021

TAS State Awards Dinner

This year’s award will be held on Friday evening 12 November in Hobart in collaboration with the Tasmanian Branch of ACS and TasICT. Thanks to TasICT, the presentation will be made during their annual dinner. The award will be presented by Hon Michael Ferguson MP, Minister for State Growth, Minister for Science and Technology, Minister for Infrastructure and Transport, Minister for Finance at this annual TasICT Industry dinner

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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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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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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 12th 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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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 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

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 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 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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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 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 Hall of Fame

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

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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 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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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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