Celebrating Australia’s unique digital heritage
The Pearcey Foundation couldn’t be more excited to be taking the lead on creating an important piece of our national Heritage – the History of ICT in Australia.
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The 2021 Riding the Digital Wave Summit:
Celebrating the birth of Computer Science in Australia
Thursday 30 September 2021; 9:00am – 5:00pm
The Refectory, The University of Sydney and Online
Thursday 30 September 2021
9:00am – 5:00pm
The Refectory, The University of Sydney and Online
Prof. Genevieve Bell
School of Cybernetics and 3A Institute
School of Cybernetics and 3A Institute
Dr. Ian Oppermann
Chief Data Scientist
Chief Data Scientist
Dr. Jon Whittle
CSIRO’s Data61
CSIRO’s Data61
About the Pearcey Foundation
The Pearcey Foundation Elevates the profile of ICT in Australia • Recognises outstanding Australians contributing to the sector • Facilitates in-depth policy debate on how to best make use of the transformative digital technologies that are reshaping Australian society and its economy
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The Pearcey Foundation Blog
Who came to the first computer conference?
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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Be Involved in the Heritage Project
- Help us tell our stories to inspire the next generation
- Document achievements of organisations and individuals
- Build an archive to acknowledge Australia’s contribution to the digital age
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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
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 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
Recording and celebrating our past provides context and lessons for those in the present. This is a very important piece of work.
– John Grant
Former CEO, Data#3
Probably no industry in Australia has more unsung heroes than our computing industry. We need to tell the story of this industry if we are to understand what Australia has achieved, but more importantly what it can achieve. The individuals and companies who have made a mark in ICT in Australia have often done so against the background of a lack of interest by Government and the media. We need to shine the light on what has been achieved to show what may be possible in order that a more dynamic and innovative base to our economy may be realised.
– Martin Hosking
CEO, Redbubble
Australia has made some fascinating contributions to the global development of ICT. Understanding the evolution of computing here and its impact here and around the world is very important – particularly as we have recently lost some of our early heroes. Thus this Pearcey Foundation initiative is vital! Let’s support it!
– Professor Mary O’Kane AC
Independent Planning Commission Chair and former NSW Chief Scientist and Engineer
Every aspect of our modern world relies upon computer and communications technology. This important publication will record and celebrate the men and women who have kept Australia at the forefront of the most rapid, pervasive, change in history.
– Dr Bronwyn Evans
CEO, Engineers Australia
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