AN American publishing firm is set to create 74 new jobs in Northern Ireland.
HighWire Press is a digital publishing platform that disseminates more than 3,000 journals, books and reference works.
The company, which is a spin out firm from Stanford University, is investing £6 million in a new Belfast office.
The business has been offered £1m of public money towards the expansion which it said would take place over the next three years.
HighWire CEO Dan Filby said he was "very excited" about the development.
"As well as providing us with a dedicated technology development centre it will also provide us with a focal point on which to build our continued presence in Europe," he said.
“An outstanding, abundant talent pool was our highest priority when evaluating potential expansion locations. We are looking for talented and enthusiastic technical and service professionals that can help drive the development of our industry leading software solutions and deliver an outstanding customer experience.
“As an industry leader, HighWire is dedicated to the development of our technical community and is committed to providing opportunities to engage in this effort in Belfast.
"We will be hosting a Drupal Community Meet Up event at our Belfast offices next week as part of our commitment to develop a culture and support the creation of new talent in this area.”
The Belfast centre will host a technical team trained to specialise in technologies such as Angular, Hadoop, Drupal, Cassandra and AWS.
Northern Ireland ministers met with Mr Filby in San Francisco during their tour of the United States.
First minister Arlene Foster said the investment was "a great boost to Belfast’s reputation as number one in Europe for new software development projects".
Deputy first minister Martin McGuinness said it signalled "the potential of our existing and future IT professionals".
“The 74 new jobs created will contribute £3m in annual salaries to our local economy. With an average salary of £34,000 they will provide a wide range of opportunities for software developers, quality assurance, professional services and support engineers," he added.
Employment minister Dr Stephen Farry said: “A highly skilled labour force is essential to support business growth and expansion, and the funding will ensure that HighWire has the support necessary for training initiatives to develop the skills required for these new roles.”
Invest NI has offered the company £739,220 while the Department for Employment and Learning has contributed £222,000.
Enterprise minister Jonathan Bell added: “The decision by HighWire to select Belfast as their international location is a vote of confidence for both the city and Northern Ireland.
“Over 100 global technology leaders have already established business operations in Northern Ireland and we are fast growing a reputation as the ideal location to develop products and be based.
“Companies are attracted by the strong technology focus of our universities, leading-edge R&D, availability of talented graduates and a competitive cost base.”
