THE government is now pushing for the country to become a top supplier of certified cyber security specialists as they are now in-demand worldwide.
In a press conference in Malacañang on Tuesday, the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) said it is now considering entering into partnerships with large technology firms to provide the needed credentials to would-be Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP).
DICT Secretary Ivan John E. Uy said the lack of access to such credentials has led to very few Filipinos becoming a CISSP.
There are currently about 200 CISSPs in the country, significantly low compared to the 3,000 in Singapore.
“What is happening is we have talented technical people, but they do not qualify for the jobs because they lack credentials or certification,” Uy said in Filipino.
Currently, he said they are inviting the said “self-taught” experts to enrol or avail themselves of scholarships to get the said certifications.
“Once they have certificates from Cisco, Oracle, from Intel, or from Microsoft, they are now employable,” Uy said. He said CISSPs can apply for jobs in Business Process Outsourcing, financial institutions, banks and in the business sector.
The DICT head noted there are an estimated 2 million vacancies for CISSP worldwide.
“If we can supply, even just one-fourth of that, 500,000, I think that’s a very, very ambitious number,” Uy said.