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Distributed Systems Technology Centre




  Fate Failed to receive continued funding
  Foundation 1992
  Defunct 30 June , 2006
  Location Brisbane , Australia
  Industry Distributed Computing Research
  Products Elvin


The Distributed Systems Technology Centre (DSTC) was a leading research organization in the field of Information Technology in Australia . It conducted
applied research focusing on a number of application domains, such as government, defence and
health care {Link without Title} . It was a centre of excellence in distributed systems technologies and had an international reputation as one of the most effective and influential IT research organisations in Australia.

DSTC was supported by the Australian Government's Cooperative Research Centre (CRC) program
and participants included universities, government, and industry players.

The company DSTC Pty Ltd was created in 1992 to manage the CRC for Distributed Systems Technology. It completed its research program in June , 2006 .

DSTC was one of the most successful CRCs in Australia, and was a leading centre for expertise in distributed systems and information technology. It was a major contributor to the Australian information technology industry through its research, projects with industry, support for training and education. It organised the annual Evolve Conference, which brought leading international experts to Australia. It was a strong participant in international standards organisations such as the Object Management Group (OMG), World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) and Organization For The Advancement Of Structured Information Standards (OASIS). The DSTC started and hosted the Australian W3C Office.

Several spin-off companies were created from DSTC projects {Link without Title} :
  • In 1997 , Active Tools commercialised Nimrod , a tool for performing parameterised computations in a grid, as EnFuzion. EnFuzion is now owned and distributed by Axceleon .

  • In was in turn bought by Quest Software .

  • In , a light-weight event notification service.

  • In 2004 , Extensia commercialised Extensia , a shared electronic health record system.

  • In 2006 , distIP purchased the remaining intellectual property assets of DSTC.


In addition to these commercial ventures, one of DSTC's greatest legacies is its alumni, some of whom have taken on prominent positions in academia, whilst others have found employment in some of the world's leading ICT companies. DSTC also made a massive contribution to computer science education, playing a major role in the education of many computer science students (including a large number of PhDs) in Australia, and particularly in Brisbane.

The CEO of DSTC in the early years had a prominent position in Queensland politics, which lead to DSTC getting a few mentions in the Queensland parliament. Queensland premier Rob Borbidge dismissively referred to DSTC as "a sort of gigabyte playpen for a few propeller heads" (Hansard 1996), which DSTC staff adopted as an informal motto.


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