NTT DATA celebrates 10 years of project with Vatican Library

May 13, 2024

NTT DATA Japan

Tokyo, Milan – 13 May, 2024 – The Vatican Apostolic Library celebrates a decade-long collaboration with NTT DATA, a global digital business and IT services leader, in the preservation of its digital heritage. In 2014, the Library embarked on a joint project with the Japanese company, combining NTT DATA's technological expertise with the humanistic experience and mission of the Popes' Library.

The first project resulting from this collaboration saw the development of a new application for navigating and consulting the Vatican Apostolic Library's online digital archive, AMLAD™, a cloud-based digital storage system particularly effective for security and ease of use. Thanks to this technology, NTT DATA has created the necessary infrastructure for long-term storage, preservation, and display of the Library's heritage in digital format, which now includes over 27,500 manuscripts available online to users worldwide, complete and free of charge with high-definition images. With Amlad's Image Viewer feature, users have the opportunity to conduct searches from various perspectives and easily access the desired documents.

Over the years, the joint initiatives of the Library and NTT DATA have strengthened and developed further in pursuit of a common interest in the protection, preservation, and dissemination of cultural heritage, encompassing various activities, including experimental ones.

In 2021, an initiative related to the digitization and preservation of artifacts within the cultural heritage domain was launched. NTT DATA digitized the Gregorian Tower (also known as Tower of the Winds), a sixteenth-century astronomical observatory, scanning it in 3D. The digitization of this cultural heritage, exposed to risks of damage from disasters, accidents, and aging, has allowed for its preservation and availability for restoration and research activities. The digitization of the Gregorian Tower, first presented at Expo 2020 in Dubai, is the first project of 3D scanning and digitization of a building, aimed at immersive virtual exploration by users through XR technology.

Additionally, in 2023, exploring the possibilities offered by Web3, NTT DATA complemented its collaboration with the Library on AMLAD™ with an experimental project to expand its online community. The initiative was designed to reward supporters using NFTs and blockchain technology if they shared the project on their social channels or demonstrated their support for the Vatican Library. Owning these NFTs allowed supporters to view high-resolution images of 15 cultural assets owned by the Library and their explanatory texts created for this project on the website, thus creating a new connection between the Vatican Library and its audience.

"In continuity with the Director Emeritus, Monsignor Cesare Pasini, I believe that our heritage requires special attention to preservation. The AMLAD digital storage solution has contributed to the long-term preservation of an invaluable heritage without causing any damage. NTT DATA has played an important role in supporting the mission of the Vatican Library to make the collected assets from around the world publicly available, without distinction of race, origin, culture, religion, politics, or ideology, supporting scientific research and development. It is not only the Vatican Library that recognizes the value of the new communities that NTT DATA is creating. We are confident that NTT DATA will continue to create new systems similar to this one with various partners worldwide," commented Mauro Mantovani, Prefect of the Vatican Apostolic Library.

"We are proud to celebrate these 10 years of collaboration with the Vatican Apostolic Library, which began with a digitization project that we can define as historically significant. All the joint initiatives that have followed over the years have aimed to make the invaluable cultural heritage of the Vatican Library accessible, preserving it, bringing people closer to digital content to create new connections and communities between the Vatican Library and its supporters worldwide. It is a privilege for us to be able to collaborate as a partner on projects that allow us, as a company, to contribute to the preservation and enhancement of humanity's heritage through our technology. With the important knowledge gained from these projects, we will continue to contribute to the preservation and transmission of cultural heritage throughout the world." stated Katsuichi Sonoda, Vice President of NTT DATA.