[1] The RIN was founded in 1947 as a forum for mariners, pilots, engineers and academics to compare their experiences and exchange information.
[3] Today it is a leading centre for promoting knowledge in navigation and its associated sciences, including positioning, timing, tracking and conduct of a journey, whether on, in, over or under land, sea, air or space.
The institute sought to provide a forum where academics, engineers, mariners, and pilots could learn, exchange information, and share personal experiences.
[2] The institute expanded its focus in the 1950s and 1960s to also address issues of safety and began collaborating with similar organizations in Europe.
The institute also fulfills an important role in the provision of guidance information for practical navigators including private pilots and small boat mariners.
From 2005 to 2008, the president of the institute was Professor J D Last, a consultant engineer and expert in communications systems who subsequently died at sea in a plane crash in November 2019.
[7][8] Roger McKinlay, an engineer was president from 2013 to 2015 and in 2015 said that increasing dependence on technology means people were losing their ability to find their way by traditional methods, specifically stating society was "sedated by software".
"[14] In 2021, Cynthia Robertson, an RYA Yachtmaster Examiner and Fellow of the society was elected as the first female president of the institute.
[16] In 2025, Dr Ramsey Faragher, an expert in radio positioning technologies, became the 6th Director of the RIN replacing John Pottle.
There are five categories of individual membership: The institute also offers a number of plans tailored to corporate bodies including businesses, clubs and universities.
In 2017 its international conference included contemporary topics as artificial intelligence, cyber threats, and machine learning.