Oracle Academy was proud to sponsor and participate in the 24th Australasian Symposium on Parallel and Distributed Computing (AusPDC 2026), held from February 9–13, 2026, at Deakin University in Melbourne. This prestigious event brought together leading academics, researchers, students, and industry professionals from across the Australasian region to explore the latest innovations in parallel computing, distributed systems, and artificial intelligence.
As part of Oracle’s ongoing commitment to supporting education and innovation, our presence at AusPDC reinforced the value of collaboration between industry and academia — especially in areas shaping the future of cloud and AI technologies.
One of the highlights of the conference was the keynote address by Rakesh Kumar Singh, Oracle Enterprise Architect, Industry, Value & Architecture, Customer Strategy, on “Architecting Cloud for AI Workloads.”
Rakesh delivered a 90-minute session that went beyond traditional cloud topics to focus on designing cloud architectures that effectively support AI workloads, covering key considerations such as network, sustainability, and cost-efficient resource management.
The session also included an introduction to the Oracle Academy program, outlining how Oracle supports academic institutions with industry-relevant academic curriculum, free cloud access and credits, and learning resources — including those in emerging technologies — to prepare students with technology skills for careers across industries.
Rakesh also participated in a panel discussion titled “Agentic AI and Distributed Systems,” joining esteemed researchers and industry leaders including Professor Richard Sinnott and Professor Rajkumar Buyaa, both from The University of Melbourne, and Dr. Xiao Liu from Deakin University. The discussion explored the future of agentic AI — intelligent systems capable of autonomous decision-making — and the challenges of deploying them on distributed computing platforms. Rakesh shared insights on architectural design and coordination in distributed environments, and provided valuable perspectives on how organizations can harness autonomous AI effectively and responsibly.
Oracle Academy’s engagement at AusPDC 2026 highlights our continued dedication to empowering educators, researchers, and students with the tools and knowledge necessary to lead in cloud and AI innovation. We are inspired by the quality of research presented and the vibrant dialogue between participants.
We look forward to continuing our collaborations with academic institutions and industry partners to nurture the next generation of technology leaders.