Italgas, National Bank of Greece, and General State Archives Sign Agreement: History and Innovation Meet Through Digitalization
Athens, 20 June 2025 – Italgas, the National Bank of Greece, and the General State Archives have today signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) aimed at digitizing and preserving documents related to the development of the gas industry in Greece—from importation to distribution. The objective is to create a comprehensive, accessible, and collaborative digital narrative and to promote educational and cultural initiatives tied to the growth of the sector and the development of the country’s energy infrastructure.
The agreement was signed at the Italian Archaeological School of Athens by Paolo Gallo, CEO of Italgas, Ernestos Panayiotou, General Manager Transformation, Strategy and International Activities of the National Bank of Greece and Amalia Pappa, Deputy General Director of the General State Archives, in the presence of the Italian Minister of Culture, Alessandro Giuli, and the Italian Ambassador to Greece, Paolo Cuculi.
"I am very pleased that today Italgas is signing this agreement with two important Hellenic institutions, the National Bank of Greece and the General State Archives, confirming the high priority the company places on Greece, including in the fields of digitalization, protection, and preservation of historical heritage," emphasized Paolo Cuculi, the Italian Ambassador to Greece. "Enhancing our history, both modern and contemporary, is indeed a distinctive trait of our two countries, and this agreement is a perfect example of that."
“This Memorandum is much more than a simple collaboration,” said Paolo Gallo, CEO of Italgas. “With this agreement, we are putting our expertise and the technologies developed by our digital transformation laboratory at the service of an ambitious goal: to build a bridge between past and future, between culture and innovation, by making an immense historical heritage easily accessible to all. The Italgas Heritage Lab has demonstrated how the digitization of archives can become a powerful driver of knowledge, identity, and development, available to everyone. And today, we are pleased to share this approach with the National Bank of Greece and the General State Archives, in the awareness that digitizing means protecting a heritage, making it eternal - but not only that; it also enables new ways of experiencing and sharing knowledge.”
“We firmly believe that this Memorandum of Understanding promotes cooperation between institutions and enhances their extroversion. We are joining forces in the effort to highlight and promote the industrial heritage of Italy and Greece, with a particular emphasis on the history of natural gas—introduced in Greece in the second half of the 19th century» highlighted Amalia Pappa, Deputy General Director of the General State Archives. “The General State Archives of Greece are closely linked to the nation’s historical narrative, safeguarding public records from the establishment of the modern Greek state to the present day. In doing so, they ensure the continuity and preservation of Greece’s administrative, political, economic and social history. Thus, the selection and documentation of the relevant archival material of the General State Archives and the Historical Archives of the National Bank of Greece, as well as its digitization and online availability, will create a set of documents accessible not only to researchers but to everyone”.
“The collaboration of the National Bank of Greece through its Historical Archive with Italgas and the General State Archives, as reflected in the Memorandum, demonstrates our steadfast commitment to protecting historical memory, deepening awareness on financial history, and capturing cultural synergies across borders and industries" said Ernestos Panayiotou, General Manager of Transformation, Strategy and International Activities of the National Bank. "Within the framework of the Memorandum and by utilizing the latest technologies, the important documents held by the Historical Archive of the National Bank of Greece, as well as the relevant scientific research that will be carried out, will shed light on the use of gas in our country from the 1920s to the 1970s as well as on the course of the energy industry in Greece more broadly. Safeguarding and digitizing these archival materials will ensure that the records of our past are not only preserved but also made accessible to future generations”.
Specifically, this project aims to:
- entrust historians and specialized archivists—selected by Enaon, the Italgas Group company operating in Greece—with the curatorship of the content, with support from the National Bank of Greece to ensure scientific rigor and historical accuracy;
- develop an intuitive and secure digital platform for consulting the documentary heritage while preserving its authenticity;
- launch initiatives targeted at schools and educational institutions to raise awareness among younger generations about the importance of energy infrastructure, the responsible use of resources, and the historical and social value of industrial heritage;
- produce materials and tools with educational and cultural purposes, capable of narrating the evolution of the gas industry as a driver of territorial progress;
- organize public events retracing the key stages in the development of the gas industry, highlighting its crucial role in the economic and social growth of local areas.
