The Pearcey Foundation is proud to organise and host important ICT events. Our major events include:
Awards - both national and state awards, that recognise and celebrate outstanding individuals in Australian ICT.
Pearcey Oration - presentations by an eminent Australian giving insights into ICT related topics of national importance.
Conversations - online seminars featuring a panel of ICT thought-leaders and experts.
Special Initiatives - other special occasions covering celebrations, retrospectives, policy debates and round-tables.
Community Events - such as high school presentations and excursions.
National Awards Gala - annual gala night to present the most prestigious awards recognising the most significant achievers in the Australian ICT sector
At a gala dinner held in the Gandel Hall at Australia's National Gallery in Canberra, Dean Spaccavento was awarded the 2016 ACT Chief Minister's Pearcey Award.
The 2015 Pearcey Oration was delivered by Mr John Grant, Managing Director of Data#3 and Chairman of the Australian Rugby League Commission. This was part of the Pearcey Awards held in conjunction with the ACS Disruptors Awards gala dinner held on Tuesday 17 November 2015 at the Sydney Star.
Tim Power was awarded the 2015 Benson Entrepreneur Award at the 2015 gala ACS Reimagination dinner held on Tuesday November 14th 2015 in Sydney.
At a gala dinner held on Tuesday 17 November 2015 at Sydney's Star in Pyrmont, David Merson was presented the 2015 Pearcey Medal by Hon. Victor Dominello, MP and NSW Minister for Innovation and Better Regulation.
At a gala dinner held on Tuesday 17 November 2015 at Sydney's Star in Pyrmont, David Merson, Geoff Huston AM and Adrian Di Marco were elevated to the Pearcey Hall of Fame.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
John De Margheriti was awarded the 2014 Benson Entrepreneur Award at the 2014 gala national iAwards event held on August 29th 2014 in Melbourne
On 23th October 2013 the 2013 NSW Pearcey Entrepreneur of the Year Awards were presented by Mr Paul Toole, Parliamentary Secretary for the Deputy Premier, to joint winners Simon Clausen, founder of Startive Ventures and PC Tools, and Naomi Simson, founder of Red Balloon.
Dr Alex Zelinsky AO was awarded the 2013 Pearcey Medal at the annual national iAwards gala event held on Thursday 8th August 2013 in Melbourne. He was appointed Vice-Chancellor at the University of Newcastle, NSW, in November 2018 and was named an Officer in the General Division of the 2017 Queens Birthday Honours List (AO), for "distinguished service to defence science and technology, to systems engineering and to education as an academic and researcher".
Leni Mayo was awarded the 2013 Benson Award at the 2013 gala national iAwards event held on August 8th 2013 in Melbourne.
At the gala 2013 iAwards event held on Thursday evening 8th August 2013 in Melbourne, Dr Alex Zelinsky, Robert Elz and Dr Rod Tucker were elevated to the Pearcey Foundation's Hall of Fame.
The 2013 Victorian Pearcey Entrepreneur Award was presented to Leni Mayo as part of the Victorian iAwards ceremony held on Wednesday 5th July in the Telstra Theatrette, Melbourne.
At a gala State iAwards presentation evening on 20th June in the Henry Jones IXL Art Hotel, the Premier of Tasmania, the Hon Lara Giddings, presented Lawrence Howson with the 2013 Tasmania Pearcey Entrepreneur of the Year Award.
The 2013 South Australia Pearcey Entrepreneur of the year award was presented to Dr Alex Grant, Director of the ITR at the University of South Australia at the SA iAwards gala presentation event held at KPMG boardroom (Pirie St) Adelaide on 19 June 2013.
At a gala event held on Tuesday evening 17 June at Canberra's Aboretum, Senator Kate Lundy presented the 2014 Pearcey ACT Entrepreneur Award to John de Margheriti.
The 2012 ACT Pearcey Award was presented to Dr Vikram Sharma on Thursday evening 15th November at the Boat House by the Lake as part of the ACS ACT Branch annual Canberra ICT Awards night.
The Pearcey NSW 2012 "Entrepreneur of the Year" Award was jointly presented to Mitch Harper and Eddie Machaalani (founders of BigCommerce) and Jo Burston (founder of JobCapital and other companies).
Dr Mal Bryce AO, 2012 Pearcey Medallist, passed away at home in Perth Western Australia on 4th March 2018. Dr Bryce was a former WA deputy premier and 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. Mal was accorded a State Funeral and a Memorial Service on Friday 13th April 2018 at the Curtin University Stadium in Perth Western Australia. A copy of the program for that service can be seen here.
Bevan Slattery was awarded the 2012 Benson Entreprenuer Award at a gala dinner as part of the 2012 iAwards event held in Melbourne on Thursday evening 9th August.
Dr Greg Clark AC, Dr Mal Bryce and Dr Craig Mudge AO were elevated to the Pearcey Hall of Fame at a gala dinner held in Melbourne on Thursday evening 9th August 2012 in front of some 800 people. The award was made as part of the 2012 iAwards event and was presented by Mr Len Rust, a member of the Pearcey Foundation Executive Committee.
The 2012 Tasmanian Pearcey Award for mid-career ICT entrepreneurs was presented to Jared Hill, CEO & Co-Founder of eight year old insight4, a thirty man Professional Software Services company based in Hobart.
The 2012 Victorian Pearcey Entrepreneur Award was presented to Oliver Roydhouse as part of the Victorian iAwards ceremony held on Wednesday 4th July in the Telstra Theatrette, Melbourne.
The 2012 Pearcey Queensland Entrepreneur Award was presented to Neil Glentworth by Hon Ros Bates MP, Minister for Science, Information Technology, Innovation and the Arts (DSITIA), at a gala dinner on 3d July held this evening at the Sebel Citigate as part of the 2012 iAwards program.
The 2011 Tasmanian Pearcey Award for younger ICT entrepreneurs was presented to Mr Daniel Harrison, Founder and CEO of QikID, an early stage company focussed on the biometric identification technology for the mass market.
The 2011 SA Pearcey Entrepreneur Award was presented to Matthew Michalewicz at a reception held at InnovateSA Board Room (19 Greenfell Street Adelaide) on Thursday evening, 17 November 2011.
The 2011 NSW ICT Entrepreneur of the Year award was presented to Simon Poole and Steve Frisken, founders of optical communications company Engana and now Finisar Australia by the Hon Andrew Stoner MP, NSW Deputy Premier in front of over 150 industry leaders. The event was held at NSW Parliament on Wednesday 12th October 2011 in Sydney.
The 2011 ACT Pearcey Entrepreneur Award was presented to Matt Bullock by Senator Kate Lundy, Senator representing the ACT and Parliamentary Secretary Prime Minister and Cabinet, as part of the annual combined ACS and Pearcey Foundation Awards held this evening at ‘The Boathouse’ in Canberra.
The 2011 Pearcey Medal was awarded to Mr Brand Hoff AM. The Pearcey Medal is Australia’s most prestigious Information and Communications Technology (ICT) industry award to an individual who has made an outstanding life-long commitment to the ICT sector.
Brand Hoff AM, Dr Ann Moffatt and Dr Dennis Moore AM were inducted into the Pearcey Foundation's Hall of Fame at the 2011 iAwards gala dinner, held in Melbourne on the 4th August 2011. The presentation was made by Dr Ian Oppermann, Director ICT Centre, CSIRO, in the presence of the Governor of Victoria, His Excellency Alex Chernov and his wife Elizabeth and some 800 guests.
At the 2011 iAwards gala dinner held in Melbourne on the 4th August 2011, the 2011 Benson Entrepreneur Award was given to Lars and Jens Rasmussen. The Lars brothers accepted the award via a video from Google headquarters in San Fransisco in the presence of the Governor of Victoria, His Excellency Alex Chernov and his wife Elizabeth, some 800 guests.
The 2011 Victorian Pearcey Entrepreneur Award was presented to Dr Elaine Saunders as part of the Victorian iAwards ceremony held on Wednesday 6th July in the River Room at Crown, Melbourne.
The 2011 Pearcey Queensland Entrepreneur Award was presented to Janine Garrett and Bevan Slattery by the Queensland Minister for ICT, The Honourable Simon Finn MP, and Ms Natalie MacDonald, Director General, Queensland Department of Public Works, at a gala dinner on 5th July held this evening at the Hilton Brisbane as part of the 2011 iAwards program.
The 2010 Tasmanian Pearcey Award for young ICT entrepreneurs was presented to Mr. Paris Buttfield-Addison and Mr. Jon Manning, co-founders of Secret Lab, by Mr David Bartlett, Premier of Tasmania in his role as Minister for Innovation, Science and Technology.
The 2010 South Australian Pearcey Award was presented to Dr Anton van den Hengel, inventor of the Videotrace image modelling system and Professor of Computer Science at the University of Adelaide.
The 2010 NSW ICT Entrepreneur of the Year award was presented to Lars and Jens Rasmussen, founders of Google Maps and Google Wave by the Hon Eric Roozendaal MLC, NSW Treasurer and Minister for State and Regional Development in front of over 220 industry leaders. A further 9 entrepreneurs were inducted into our Hall of Fame. The event was held at NSW Parliament on Tuesday 19th October 2010 in Sydney in conjunction with National ICT Australia's NICTA @ NSW Parliament research showcase.
The 2010 Pearcey Oration was presented by Dr Megan Clarke, CSIRO as part of the World Computer Congress 2010 at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre, Merivale Street, Southbank Qld 4101, Australia on Wednesday 22nd September 2010
The 2010 Pearcey Medal was awarded to Mr John Grant. The Pearcey Medal is Australia’s most prestigious Information and Communications Technology (ICT) industry award to an individual who has made an outstanding life-long commitment to the ICT sector.
Inducted into the Pearcey Hall of Fame for 2010 was John Grant, Brian Finn AO, and Emeritus Professor Peter Poole (Vale 2017)
Peter Ward, Founder and Chief Technical Architect of Wardy IT Solutions, was presented the 2010 Queensland Pearcey Award by Robert Schwarten MP, the Queensland Minister for Public Works and Information and Communication Technology. This award recognises and celebrates the achievements of Australia's ICT and Digital Media entrepreneurs; Peter’s achievements were acknowledged at a gala dinner in Brisbane on 20th September as part of the 2010 World Computer Congress (WCC).
Fullbright Scholar Dr Raymond Choo was presented the 2010 ACT Pearcey Award by Senator Kate Lundy, Parliamentary Secretary to Prime Minister & Cabinet, at a gala dinner held at 'The Boathouse' in Canberra on 16 September 2010.
The 2010 Victorian State Pearcey Award was presented to Mr Brett Paterson as part of the the Victorian ACS Fellows dinner on Tuesday 22nd June 2010 at the RACV Club in Melbourne. The event was sponsored by Multimedia Victoria, Department of Innovation, Industry and Regional Development and the Australian Computer Society.
The 2009 Queensland Pearcey Award was presented to Mr Paul Gampe at a dinner on Wednesday 25 November 2009 at the Sebel & Citigate King George Square in Brisbane. The presentation was made by Mr Paul Russell, Director of Enabling Technologies at Queensland's Department of Employment, Economic Development and Innovation. Highly Commeneded Certifcates were also presented to Janine Garrett, Andrew Jessett and Andrew Eddie.
