‘Digital Navigators’ Turn Three. We Can’t Believe It Either!

Three years since the National Digital Inclusion Alliance (NDIA) first introduced the “digital navigator” model. The first NDIA Digital Navigator Working Group met in April 2020 and worked quickly, with the pandemic and lockdown fueling the urgency to solve digital inequities. By July 2020, NDIA launched the concept of “Digital Navigators” into the field, releasing open-source information and resources that helped build the model from on-the-ground digital inclusion work in communities. Since then, we’ve seen an explosion in the adoption and adaptation of the digital navigator model. As with any community-created, open-source project, the digital navigator model has taken on a life of its own, expanded, and evolved further than we anticipated. NDIA still hosts monthly meetings to learn from experts in the digital navigator realm, share resources, create best practices, and build connections.