The US Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) is to welcome its first ever cybersecurity business next year.
In a statement released today and published in the Marianas Variety, the CNMI Departments of Commerce and Labor announced that an unnamed US-based cybersecurity firm will open its newest Security Operations Center on CNMI's largest island, Saipan, in January 2020.
In addition to placing the CNMI on the cybersecurity industry's map, the new center is expected to create new jobs on the remote Pacific Ocean island. Recruitment is currently underway for 15 information security analysts.
Applicants must be at least 18 and need to have attained a CompTIA certification through local nonprofit organization The Latte Training Academy (LTA).
The US firm will be hiring qualified candidates on a full-time basis and will offer career progression, which may require relocation to various client locations throughout the United States and Europe.
"The firm reached out to the Latte Training Academy through its affiliation with CompTIA and began discussions on the ability to support its need for entry level Information Security Analysts. These positions are intended to serve as front line network analysts for the firm’s clients," said the LTA's director, Ed Arriola Jr.
"Given the security concerns of their customer base, the organization has opted to open a CNMI location rather than outsource the work. The need to source a US labor market was a key component to their interest in the CNMI, but our geographic location on the opposite side of the international date line was beneficial as it allows them to provide coverage to supplement their US offices."
Secretary of Labor Vicky Benavente said the arrival of the US firm aligned well with the CNMI's plans to create an apprenticeship program.
"The Department of Labor Workforce Investment Agency director David Attao has been a key advocate in establishing our apprenticeship strategy and work experience programs.
"Given the course of the discussion with the firm, he recognized that their training and on-boarding plan was directly in-line with the mission of DOL WIA and the USDOL Apprenticeship State Expansion program.
"We will continue to work with our partners at the Latte Training Academy to bring this tremendous opportunity to fruition. This effort is exactly the push that this administration has worked so diligently to produce. While we are still in beginning phases, to be able to generate the interest within this industry is extraordinary."