It was a busy week prior to the Easter holiday for the smart home industry association. CEDIA celebrated the launch of a brand-new membership app at the same time the organization was in Washington, DC, for its third-annual Capitol Hill Day event. Both initiatives show the continued efforts by the organization to both modernize its efforts and broaden its impact throughout the channel.
Looking first at, arguably, the more important of the two announcements, CEDIA’s third-annual Hill Day activities were among the organization’s most engaging advocacy events yet. Part of a weeklong slate of events for the CEDIA Board of Directors who were gathered in the nation’s capital, the Hill Day event included a focus on AI’s impact on the smart home, and the furthering of support for the recognition of the “Technology Integrator” as a formal industry by the U.S. Department of Labor.
To the latter initiative, CEDIA leaders once again engaged with representatives from the DOL to advance efforts that took hold during last year’s event while also exploring a national apprenticeship pathway that would strengthen the pipeline for skilled talent in the channel.
A new initiative this year, the “AI Comes Home” demonstration allowed the group’s current Board Chair Amanda Wildman and Immediate Past Chair Alex Capecelatro to showcase how AI is influencing technology in the home. The demo “booth” included working examples of Lutron/Ketra shades and lighting, IC RealTime security, and Sonos audio, all controlled by Josh.ai. Several representatives, including Rep. Mark Messmer (R-IN), Rep. Yvette Clarke (D-NY), and Rep. Judy Chu (D-CA), stopped by to participate in the demonstration, which was presented in cooperation with the Congressional Smart Cities Caucus.
“Thank you to the CEDIA team in its entirety – both for hosting our caucus for today’s event and for their tireless work to unite smart home technologies with every American family,” Caucus Cochair Yvette D. Clarke said in a statement. “It is my sincere hope that our essential caucus will continue to serve as a forum for bringing together industry leaders – like those of CEDIA – to share solutions, ideas, and best practices around how our communities can most benefit from new forms of smart technology.”
On the Hill Day event itself, CEDIA Global President and CEO Daryl Friedman said it continues to be one of the most important days on the organization’s calendar. “We’re building on strong advocacy momentum from 2025 by lobbying for policies that strengthen career pathways, support the industry’s workforce, and secure formal recognition for the role technology integrators play.”
Member Mobile App
Speaking of the CEDIA calendar, it’s long been a goal of many different participants in this industry to host some sort of centralized calendar of events. There are SO many different smart home happenings that it can truthfully be very difficult to keep track of it all—even for those of us in the media who attempt to cover it all!
CEDIA aims to solve that challenge with one of the key features of its new membership app—the Integration Industry Calendar.
“Our members are always on the move, so the CEDIA app is the perfect companion to today’s smart home professional,” Friedman said of the app. “Now with the addition of the industry’s only complete calendar, we hope the app will be even more useful.”
In a statement, CEDIA explained that events will be included based on their relevance to CEDIA members and the professional smart home industry. The organization also seeks input from members and industry partners via an online form to ensure the calendar reflects the broad view of opportunities that the channel offers.
Other features of the app include the ability to create a personalized profile, portfolio sharing, a social-style live feed, member directories, and a Reddit-style forum. The full slate of features is available to CEDIA members. Non-members can download the app (available in the Apple App Store and Google Play Store) and create a free CEDIA account in order to access the industry calendar.
