Digital Inclusion Trailblazers are municipal, county, or regional governments that are paving the way and providing excellent models for digitally inclusive communities. They are intentional. They are invested in, and committed to advancing digital equity. The Trailblazers recognition isn’t just an award — it’s also a collection of valuable resources. Trailblazers provide models to aspire to, demonstrating how local governments can support their own digital inclusion ecosystems.
Any local government may apply annually during the application window to be a Digital Inclusion Trailblazer, including:
Municipalities
Townships
Counties
Regional governments
Individuals or organizations outside of local government, including digital inclusion advocates, should encourage their city/town/county to apply. Make your municipal leaders aware of this program, and encourage them to use the categories and resources to inform their own digital inclusion plans.
To uphold the spirit of the program and the prestige of reaching Trailblazers status, NDIA, with input from local government practitioners, established the following guiding principles to illustrate the purpose and value of the program.
The Digital Inclusion Trailblazers program:
Sets a national standard for excellent digital inclusion work. Backed by NDIA’s trusted expertise, Trailblazers is now the country’s benchmark for local governments
Establishes an honor roll that bestows prestige on local governments that achieve Trailblazers status
Serves as a free and open knowledge database for digital inclusion resources and information tried and tested by local governments in their communities
Promotes digital inclusion work and creates an incentive for local communities to articulate their digital inclusion efforts and make them official
“Digital access is no longer optional—it is essential to quality of life, economic opportunity, and civic participation. Being named a Visionary Digital Inclusion Trailblazer reflects Vacaville’s commitment to ensuring every resident, regardless of circumstance, has the tools and access needed to thrive in a digital-first world. We are proud to be leading by example and building a more connected, inclusive community.”
John Carli, Mayor, City of Vacaville
“Striving for the NDIA Trailblazer indicators has helped focus and uplift our digital inclusion efforts while providing a wealth of insights from other communities to learn from. This program and our recognition have sparked new momentum and partnerships for digital equity in South Bend.”
Patrick McGuire, Technology Equity Manager, City of South Bend
Trailblazers Categories and Indicators
NDIA identified seven categories that exemplify how governments can take action and have outstanding impact on local digital inclusion ecosystems. Each category contains related indicators – local government resources and initiatives. You can find specific examples of documentation for each indicator in the application. To estimate the anticipated score of your application while applying, complete the Trailblazers Scoring Worksheet.
Click each category below to view a drop-down explanation of its indicators.
Your local government allocates resources to digital inclusion in one or both of these ways:
A. Full-time equivalent (FTE) staff dedicated to digital inclusion.
B. Dedicated local (non-federal) funding for digital inclusion for current fiscal year.
Your local government funds or aids community digital inclusion programs either by administering programs directly or by financially supporting programs by other organizations. Digital inclusion programs may address three types of needs and span multiple categories, while digital navigators programs address these needs holistically.
A. Funding FTE staff at a community partner organization.
B. Meaningfully engaging as a member of a local digital inclusion coalition.
C. Participating in a formalized digital inclusion coalition, committee, working group, or other initiative beyond the local community.
Your local government creates opportunities for meaningful engagement about digital inclusion with community members, demonstrated by:
A. Regularly engaging lived experts and communities impacted by the digital divide.
B. Hosting community conversations focused on meaningful engagement around digital inclusion, such as public meetings, listening sessions, and town halls.
C. Hosting a public website or webpage dedicated to digital inclusion that is contained within or navigable through the local government website.
Your local government encourages and enacts public policies that support digital inclusion efforts and advance digital equity by:
A. Participating in state and federal legislative and rulemaking processes to promote digital inclusion.
B. Enacting policies that promote digital inclusion.
C. Officially declaring support for digital inclusion.
Your local government collects and uses community digital inclusion data, including publicly available data and original data, using:
A. Community digital inclusion survey or benchmarking.
B. Digital inclusion asset mapping.
C. New or emerging digital inclusion datasets.
D. Local internet speed tests.
E. Secondary digital inclusion data (American Community Survey, FCC Mapping, etc.) to guide decision making.
Your local government encourages and enacts public policies that support digital inclusion efforts and advance digital equity by:
A. Published local digital inclusion plan.
B. Local digital inclusion plan in development or strategy document.
Scoring and Evaluation
Trailblazers uses a points accumulation system to evaluate applications, with a maximum of 23 points possible. The indicators within each category are worth different point values, based on the level of effort required and their potential impact on the local digital inclusion ecosystem. You can find point values for each indicator in the Trailblazers Scoring Worksheet. You may use any combination of criteria to accumulate the points needed for recognition.
Categories
Each category has a maximum point value, so if multiple resources meet the same indicator, they will not be counted twice.
However, since the Trailblazers program serves as a public resource repository, local governments are encouraged to submit materials demonstrating as much of their digital inclusion work as possible.
Indicators
Applicants may submit documentation for as many indicators as they choose. Applications are assessed based on the documentation submitted to satisfy each indicator. The NDIA team may contact applicants to clarify information or request additional documentation to validate indicators. We suggest, however, that you are careful to ensure that all documentation needed for the application is submitted within the deadline, so your local government can be recognized in the list of Trailblazers.
Recognition Levels
There are two levels of recognition possible for communities that meet certain thresholds out of the 23 possible points. Local governments that score five points or more are recognized as Digital Inclusion Trailblazers. This level of achievement recognizes excellent digital inclusion work, while keeping the program accessible to a diverse range of local governments, regardless of community size, type, or resources available. Visionary Digital Inclusion Trailblazers, scoring 18 or more points, are communities that have deeply integrated digital inclusion throughout their government. They are leading the way in digital inclusion innovation.
Digital Inclusion Trailblazer: 5-17 points
Visionary Digital Inclusion Trailblazer: 18 points and above
NDIA launched Digital Inclusion Trailblazers in 2016 to recognize innovative models at the local government level. Since then, Trailblazers has evolved into a national benchmark program for municipal, county, and regional governments to demonstrate their work in the field. In 2022, NDIA awarded a record 32 local governments with Trailblazers status at our annual Net Inclusion conference – nearly double the previous high of 17 from 2021.
For 2023, the NDIA team, along with a community affiliate working group, revised the Trailblazers categories to reflect our rapidly growing field. We updated all existing categories and indicators and added some new ones. We added details on digital navigators, asset mapping, and coalition-building to reflect emerging trends and to uplift the critical role these programs and strategies play in digital inclusion.
In December, we announced the full list of Trailblazer awardees.
Acknowledgements
The growing success of the Trailblazers program is wholly attributed to our community working tirelessly toward the goal of digital equity. A huge thanks is owed to all Trailblazers applicants, local government staff dedicated to groundbreaking digital inclusion programs, and to members of thw working group who advised on the 2023 Trailblazers program updates: Ryan Collins, Genesis Gavino, Rebecca Kauma, Patrick McGuire, Alonso Melendez, Leigh Middleton, Shannon Millsaps, Dana Nybo, Mia Purcell, Estefania Ramierez, Ricky Santiago, Mikhail Sundust and Jon Morrison Winters.
Without them, Digital Inclusion Trailblazers would not be possible.
Stand with NDIA in the fight for digital equity.
Across the country, older adults are struggling as they attempt to navigate telehealth appointments. Parents without affordable home internet options are seeing their children fall behind in school. Adult job seekers without digital skills are having difficulty competing in the online job market.
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