State Awards Process

The Pearcey Foundation welcomes nominations all year round for any of its awards. We encourage the nominations of anyone who has made a significant contribution to the ICT industry. Simply contact us with the details.

Pearcey State Entrepreneur Awards

The State Entrepreneur Awards recognise an individual who has made an outstanding contribution to the Australian information, communication and digital technology sector in their state.

The Pearcey State Awards are aimed at encouraging and rewarding fresh, innovative and inspiring talent in the information, communication and digital technology sectors. It is peer-selected award for a mid-career individual who has demonstrated innovative and pioneering achievement and contribution in their chosen industry. The key criteria are that the individual has taken a risk, made a difference and is an inspiration.

The recipients will be drawn from contributors across all aspects of the ICT sector including (but not limited to) computing science, the Internet, communications, social media and networking, interactive media, games and the like.

The idea is to embrace all those mid-career professionals in the sector and not exclude anyone. The individual should be one who will act as a role model for others to acknowledge and, hopefully, emulate.

Nominations

Each State or Territory considers nominations of outstanding individuals within that State or Territory.

Nominations are accepted all year round.

Please fill out the Pearcey State Nomination Form.

Criteria

The award is aimed at an outstanding entrepreneur who has "taken a risk", "made a difference" and "is an inspiration".

Risk is a measure of the extent to which the candidate has crusaded a new business and/or technology, particularly in their own venture. The nominee has gone out on a limb to achieve things, rather than just doing it as part of their normal job. Considerations include:

Boldness, initiative and execution of the venture
Size (or potential) of business, revenue, offices etc
The journey that lead to the success

Difference is related to both the commercial success and the impact in the ICT sector. The nominee has to be more than just successful, their success should have had a measurable/notable impact on the sector and/or community. Considerations include:

The commercial impact of the contribution
The breadth and depth of the innovation
The industry impact of the contribution or venture

Inspiration is about the type of person they are. The nominee should be a role model, especially for younger people, and be an advocate for the Australian ICT sector. Considerations include:

Role model and inspiration to younger generation
Leadership and profile in the industry
Contributions to the wider community

Process

Each State or Territory has its own Selection Committee which is usually led by the State or Territory Chair of the Pearcey Foundation and includes a panel of industry leaders drawn from past Pearcey Award recipients in that state and other industry luminaries.

The Committee will review all nominations against the criteria and for relevance to the Award of the achievements and experience of the nominee in the information, communication and digital technology sectors.

Then the panel will shortlist candidates and may choose to interview them before making their decision. Usually, finalists (or the recipient) will be notified prior to the award ceremony and their presence requested at the ceremony to receive the award.

The State Award recipient is then automatically a candidate for the National Entrepreneur Award.

Previous recipients are listed under each state in our State Awards section.

FAQs

What is the Selection Committee looking for?

Anyone who has "taken a risk" and "made a difference" and "is an inspiration" in the Australian ICT and Digital Media industries.

What does "mid career" mean?

The aim is to give recognition during a career, rather than at the end of one. This means that the candidate needs to be well experienced and made a significant contribution, but doesn't have to be close to retirement and shouldn't be at the beginning of their journey.

What does "role model" mean?

The intention is to recognise and promote an individual others can admire for the quality of the contribution itself, for the way it was achieved and for the positive impact it has had including market influence and to the community. Such individuals will hopefully act as models for others to emulate.

Is the Award about the person or their achievements?

The Pearcey State Award is a personal award by well-respected people in the innovation and entrepreneur community who recognise the candidate's outstanding contributions to the ICT Industry. These contributions may be new innovation, new knowledge, the clever application of ICT or ways to improve professional practice. Importantly, the contributions should be above and beyond what is expected of a person in their normal job role.

Does R&D mean it must be practical, or can it be purely research oriented?

The achievement should be both innovative and practical. If the achievement is research oriented, then it needs to have valuable commercial potential. If the achievement is in the novel application of IT using existing technologies, then there must be significant market opportunity and feasibility of implementation.

Is the Award based on the significance of the technology or innovation?

Not necessarily - this is a personal award for the extent of the candidate's contribution and, in the pioneering spirit, the risks that the candidate has taken along the way.

If my work is not based in State, am I eligible?

The candidate's work should have some significant links to the nominating State. However, the candidate need not have originally come from the State.

Can you give me an example of a prize recipient?

Previous recipients are listed under each state in the State Awards section of this website.