David Thodey, chair of local accounting tech company Xero, is the recipient of the 2021 Pearcey Medal.
Pearcey Foundation chair Wayne Fitzsimmons said Thodey was a fitting recipient of the Pearcey medal given his longstanding contribution to the Australian IT sector.
“David Thodey has consistently demonstrated sincere and sustained interest in supporting many organisations in the Australian ICT industry, including the Pearcey Foundation, especially where the focus is on attracting the next generation into our industry,” Fitzsimmons said.
Thodey was CEO of Telstra between 2009 and 2015 and, until last month, chaired Australia’s science agency, the CSIRO.
His involvement in Australian business and technology saw him awarded with an Office of the Order of Australia in 2017.
Thodey was also inducted into the Pearcey Hall of Fame alongside former Google Australia Engineering Director Alan Noble and ACS Hall of Fame member Judy Hammond.
Hammond was the second ever woman to be granted the rank of ACS Fellow and has been a long-time contributor to ACS as a board director and committee chair, and was previously Australia’s representative for the International Federation of Information Processing (IFIP).
“These are the very best in our industry based on a lifetime of achievement, and their contribution to the Australian ICT industry is permanently recorded in our Hall of Fame,” Fitzsimmons said about this year’s medalist and Hall of Fame inductees.
This year’s Pearcey National Entrepreneur Award went to Mohan Koo, Co-Founder and CTO of security company DTEX Systems.
SA Premier Steven Marshall (left) handing Mohan Koo the 2021 Pearcey National Entrepreneur Award. Image: supplied.
Head of the Pearcey Foundation’s judging panel, Rick Harvey, said Koo was a well-deserved winner of the award.
“With all the complications that come with raising capital and engaging with international clients and partners, Mohan’s achievement in building a global cyber security company is nothing short of amazing,” he said.
“Mohan’s remarkable story covers 20 years of perseverance and resilience, and is a testament to his passion and advocacy for technology, and the expertise and innovation of Australian entrepreneurs behind it.”
Koo also won the 2021 South Australian Entrepreneur Award.
The other state Entrepreneur Award winners this year were Dr Daniel Shaddock (ACT), Jordan and Laura O’Reilly (NSW), Michael Holmstrom (Qld), Nina McMahon (Tas), Bronwyn Le Grice (Vic), and Charlie Gunningham (WA).
