Vatican Library in partnership with NTT DATA Italia
The Vatican Library and the Italian branch of Japanese IT giant NTT DATA announced the launch of the "Vatican Library Web3 Support Project" to preserve and display the library's precious manuscripts in the form of NFT. This initiative aims to use blockchain technology to expand the Vatican Library’s online community and attract more supporters to participate.
The core of the project is to reward supporters through NFTs and give them access to the Vatican Library’s rare manuscript collection. These NFTs are divided into two categories:
“Silver NFT”: Available to users who share the project on social media, allowing them to view high-resolution images of 15 manuscripts on the website
“Gold NFT”: available to donor supporters, allowing them to view high-resolution images of all 21 manuscripts.
NTT DATA Italia has been working with the Vatican Library since 2014 to preserve more than 2 million historical documents through its digital archive service AMLAD. The company has invested billions in Web3 infrastructure and plans to launch a crypto wallet later this year, further solidifying its commitment to the digital future.
How the plan works in detail
Italian users can share the plan through social media or donate on a dedicated website before July 16 to receive corresponding NFT rewards. The obtained NFT will serve as a key, allowing users to open and browse high-resolution images that are part of the Vatican Library’s precious collection.
Don Mauro Mantovani, director of the Vatican Library, said the plan, conceived by NTT DATA, is fully consistent with the library’s mission to make its unique collections available to the public and to promote research and scientific development.
He emphasized: "Library not only recognizes the value of the new community created by NTT DATA, but also believes that NTT DATA will promote similar initiatives with different partners around the world. We are pleased to participate in this alliance to leverage the opportunities of Web3 technology plan."
The future of the Web3 support program
The success of this initiative not only extends the functionality of the library’s online community, but also demonstrates the practicality of blockchain technology in protecting cultural heritage. According to data from OpenSea, 419 users have received Polygon-based NFT tokens so far. These tokens are soul-bound (SBT), that is, non-transferable and permanently linked to the recipient’s digital wallet.
In addition to the current display of digital manuscripts, the plan may also introduce new digital content formats in the future, such as immersive experiences through XR (extended reality) technology, allowing users to explore these historical treasures more intuitively.
The Vatican Library, one of the world's oldest and most important repositories of historical texts, furthers its mission of making ancient documents more accessible to the public through this Web3 support initiative. This is not only an innovative measure to protect and display historical heritage, but also an example of the perfect combination of digital technology and cultural preservation.
