Maria Diaz/ZDNET/Home Assistant

It's no secret that the smart home world is dominated by big tech, with Amazon's Alexa leading the way, followed closely by Google Home and Apple Homekit. But because the Connectivity Standards Alliance (CSA) is working on a more open smart home standard through Matter, these popular automation systems are not as open as most smart home users want. This is how Home Assistant was born: an open-source smart home system that gives tech enthusiasts full control over their IoT devices. Paulus Schoutsen, founder of Home Assistant, is now launching the Open Home Foundation, a non-profit organization to combat surveillance capitalism and ensure that smart home projects remain open and accessible to everyone. Also: The best wireless video doorbell for Ring fans is now 20% off.

“I want to make it clear what our intentions are for the world: that we are driven by a higher purpose than money,” Schoutsen said in the announcement. “And that we are not for sale.” The Open Home Foundation will oversee and manage more than 240 smart home projects, including home automation systems. Some of the projects are Home Assistant, ESPHome and ZigPy. Like Home Assistant, the foundation will evolve and adapt in response to changes in the smart home industry and user influence, so that users' interests are taken into account at a higher level. Home Assistant is a smart home system like Google Home, Alexa and HomeKit, while Matter is a connectivity standard for the smart home. Google Home, Alexa and HomeKit all support Matter devices, just as they support Bluetooth and Zigbee devices. In addition to allowing community influence and pledging to remain open and respect user privacy, the foundation emphasizes sustainability and supports the development of eco-friendly smart home solutions. Also: my favorite new smart home accessory is unexpected and packed with useful features.

Commonly known at smart For home enthusiasts, Home Assistant is usually the home automation system of choice for tech-savvy users who don't mind tinkering with setting up their system just right. Home Assistant users are not forced to use proprietary systems or products as an open source platform. The platform can run locally on a Raspberry Pi or other computer and allows users to customize and customize their smart home without being locked into a specific ecosystem. Also: the Echo Show 8 is the best combination of smart display and speaker and costs just $105.

Part of the reason we started the Open Home Foundation is because Home Assistant and our other projects were kind of floating in space without any formal home. added Schoutsen, who also co-founded Nabu Casa in 2018. Nabu Casa, the first partner of the Open Home Foundation, is a smart home company that has supported open source projects since its launch. The new foundation allows smart Home users who are concerned about privacy or looking for open source solutions use Nabu Casa or Home Assistant, knowing that they are controlled by an organization that respects the protection of personal data. Also: I tried a window cleaning robot and it went surprisingly well Because Nabu Casa is part of governance groups such as the CSA, the Open Home Foundation plans to represent the interests of users in developing industry standards such as Zigbee, Z-Wave and Matter “We try to leave a positive legacy behind us.” , said Schoutsen. “And this is the next chapter in that journey.” The founding board of the Open Home Foundation consists of its founders: Paulus Schoutsen, Guy Sie, Pascal Vizeli and J. Nick Koston.