At Proctorio, we've had a plan from the start: become carbon neutral in five years. In 2018, we reached that goal and made a new commitment: be carbon negative by 2025. From our smallest actions (paperless offices, composting, “meatless Mondays,” and electric car charging) to our biggest (international carbon offset projects), we are committed to making a positive impact on the planet.

Proctorio was built on the foundation of ethical artificial intelligence. We rely on artificial intelligence to verify test takers around the world and to train our algorithm to be as accurate and reliable as possible. All of our AI modeling is done at our headquarters in Scottsdale, Arizona and is powered entirely by solar panels installed in the Spring of 2021.

These solar panels power the office during the day and, after hours, the energy reserved in our batteries powers the computers working overtime to improve our algorithms. We're using 100% renewable energy—all energy that is generated here on site.

Shea Brown, Founder and CEO of BABL AI, and our partner in ethical AI practices, said it best: "The energy costs of developing AI can be significant and has been the topic of great concern in both the AI ethics and sustainability communities. Two of the primary ways of counteracting this are to use lightweight and efficient models that are not difficult to train and use, and to utilize renewable energy during the training process. Proctorio does both, showing their commitment to sustainability."

We believe that no idea is too small to consider or too big to conquer, which is why this Earth Day, we are expanding our collaboration with Climate Partner, a solutions provider in corporate climate action, to take on a second carbon offset project: forest protection in Mataven, Colombia.

As the biggest REDD+ Project in Colombia, the Mataven program protects over 4400 square miles of tropical forests, safeguarding its biodiversity. It provides education, healthcare, sanitation, food security, nutrition, and further social benefits for 16,000 indigenous people. You can learn more about this project at www.climatepartner.com/1402.

This is our second project with Climate Partner. Our first was the Matebe hydropower plant in Virunga, DR Congo. With a capacity of 13 megawatts, the plant generates clean electricity for households and small businesses, giving about four million inhabitants access to electricity for the first time. You can read more about this project at www.climatepartner.com/1072.

Going carbon neutral in 2018 was a big milestone for us. But we realize that isn't enough, which is why we are committing to being carbon negative by 2025. The work we do abroad and here at home will get us there.

At Proctorio, we believe scalability and sustainability go hand in hand.