Welcome to

The Pearcey Foundation

The Pearcey Foundation is a non-profit organisation founded in 1998 in memory of a great Australian ICT pioneer Dr Trevor Pearcey. The Foundation operates broadly across the Australian Information 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.

Discover more Discover more

AUSTRALIA 4.0 - ICT enabling Net Zero

Australia 4.0 is a constructive space for all stakeholders to discuss the challenges, opportunities and solutions for the transition of Australia to a Net Zero energy system.

A series of hybrid events:

First session focused on "Creating an Open Data Architecture" and was hosted by CSIRO in Sydney on September 3^rd.

Second session October 2^nd hosted by Engineers Australia in Canberra.

Third session October 29^th hosted by Cremorne Digital Hub and RACE for 2030 CRC in Melbourne.

Fourth session February 12^th, 2025 hosted by Standards Australia in Sydney.

Registration link coming soon ....

Download the Australia 4.0 Communiqué .................. and White Paper

Download Download Download Download

This is our 26^th year of awards, focussed exclusively on outstanding individuals drawn from across our vast geography.

We present 11 awards each year and have done so for a long time - recognising over 170 Australian ICT luminaries and entrepreneurs, as highlighted on this website.

Nominate now for Pearcey Awards

Heritage Projects - many activities including publication of 1^st authoritative history of Australian computing, national oral history of Australian ICT, and an IEEE milestone for CSIRAC.

Latest News

Nov 11, 2024

Biography - Trevor Pearcey

Mrs Barbara Ainsworth, Curator of the Monash Museum of Computing History has published a new biography of Dr Trevor Pearcey, Dean of the School of Computing and Information Systems (1980-1984).

Read More Read More

Nov 6, 2024

2024 NSW Award

At a special Pearcey Foundation awards night in Sydney on Thursday 7 November 2024, Prof Michael J. Biercuk PhD, CEO and founder of Q-CTRL, was announced as the recipient of the 2024 NSW Pearcey Entrepreneur of the Year Award. Professor Biercuk is a global science and technology innovator building the greenfield quantum technology industry.

Read More Read More

Oct 31, 2024

Pearcey Award Recipient on TV

Chris Piastri, recipient of the 2024 Victorian Pearcey Entrepreneur Award is interviewed by 9News about his Pearcey award and the work he has done to receive this prestigious recognition.

Read More Read More

Sep 24, 2024

2024 ACT Award

The founders of CEA Technologies, Ian Croser and David Gaul, were the recipients of the 2024 ACT Chief Minister’s Pearcey Award. The award was presented at a special Pearcey event in Canberra on the 25th of September 2024 by the ACT Chief Minister, Andrew Barr.

Read More Read More

Sep 6, 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.

Read More Read More

Sep 6, 2024

2024 Pearcey Oration

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.

Read More Read More

Awards

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

National Awards • State Awards • Nominations

The Heritage Project

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

The Project

Kind Words

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

Charlie Day
Former CEO, Innovation and Science Australia

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

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

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

Founder
Australian Ocean Lab and Former Engineering Director, Google Australia

Initiatives

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

Thought Leadership • Australia 3.0 • Australia 4.0 • ICT Heritage • Pearcey Institute

Discover more Discover more

In memory of

Dr Trevor Pearcey

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