ESA was officially launched on 11 December 2007.  This followed a year of discussions of a consortium of key supporters. A significant early event was a Roundtable Forum held on 27 March 2007.  For the first time in Australia we gathered embedded systems practicioners into the one room to explore the value of forming a cluster.  The consortium — composed of industry, industry associations, government and research representatives — became ESA's founding steering committee.  This committee eventually disbanded in January 2009 as part of a long-planned move toward a new funding model and a new Terms of Reference for the cluster.

The Warren Centre played a significant role in promoting the idea of supporting the embedded systems industry for several years prior to 2007.  Under Chris Nicol's leadership, NICTA drove the formation of the cluster provided key resources for its establishment and ongoing success.

The following individuals deserve special mention (in no particular order):  Richard Krohn (AEEMA), Andy Wyatt & David Bull (BCS), Peter Thompson (CiSRA), Rami Banna (Cochlear), Janice Humphreys (GIC), John Humphreys (GIC),  Nick Fondas (iTech), Tim Schroeder (Microsoft), Peter Edmonds (NICTA), ESA Chair - Chris Nicol (NICTA), Neil Temperley (NICTA), Sumeet Kumar (NSW DSRD), Rachel Sieff (NSW DSRD), John Oates (Resmed), Tony Strasser (SKM & The Warren Centre), Robert Mitchell (The Warren Centre), Stuart Cumming (inContact & The Warren Centre).