August 5, 2022

One Tree Planted: A Partnership Taking Root

Planting trees to mark new sites and studies live on Teckro

Reading time

5 min read

Gary Hughes

CEO & Co-Founder

Teckro

We have three core values at Teckro: make an impact, do the right thing, and be responsive. Here, I’d like to focus on the first one: making an impact. After all, it’s the reason we founded Teckro.

We started Teckro to tackle inefficient, manual, paper-based clinical trial operations. Today the impact of what we do has a ripple effect on investigators, study coordinators, monitors and study teams, who now collaborate easily on Teckro and have immediate access to valuable study content. Faster, more efficient clinical trials in turn positively impact patient safety, along with high quality research data, and time-to-market for new drugs and treatments.

Making a Difference

Improving the day job of our users is one way we can look at impact, but there are other dimensions. For example, there is Teckro as the employer of a talented workforce and the positive impact we have on people’s lives. There is Teckro as an Irish-based company and the impact we have on local economies. We can also consider Teckro as a software company and our impact on future generations of software developers through apprenticeships and collaborations, such as the one we have with the University of Limerick.

It's also worth mentioning our contribution to the industry with the Totally Clinical podcast that we launched last November. To our delight, it has started to take on a life of its own and is giving a voice to many people in the industry who may not otherwise have a platform for their point of view.

The best validation of the impact is that we have people requesting to be a guest on the podcast. You only need to look at the diversity of topics, ranging from individual patient advocates, non-profits, scientific and industry experts, site leadership and staff alike, as well as people from developing nations, to understand why the podcast is a service to the industry.

Urgency for Ecosystem Restoration

Climate change is on every government agenda and something that we all have a stake in improving. We’re currently one year into the UN "Decade on Ecosystem Restoration", intended to prevent, stop and reverse the degradation of ecosystems on land and sea. As a country, Ireland has a climate action plan that calls for a 51% reduction in greenhouse emissions by 2030 and net-zero emissions no later than 2050. Private sector businesses are also committing to significant changes, such as the “Ambition Zero Carbon” program from AstraZeneca that aims to have zero carbon emissions from global operations by 2025 and carbon negative across its value chain by 2030.

There are many ways that individuals, companies, and governments can contribute to a reduction of our carbon footprint. For now, I’m going to focus on just one: trees.

Introducing Our Partnership with One Tree Planted

As part of making an impact, Teckro is partnering with One Tree Planted, a non-profit organization focused on global reforestation. They plant trees to restore nature and biodiversity. They also raise awareness about the importance of trees, offer businesses like ours a simple sustainability solution, and motivate younger generations to do something positive for the environment.

Each quarter, we will make a financial contribution aligned with new sites and studies live on Teckro. So far, we have planted 5,000 trees in Ireland. We selected Ireland to start given it is in the “backyard” of our corporate headquarters and the country has suffered significant deforestation over the centuries.

Trees benefit all living creatures. They clean the air that we breathe by absorbing carbon dioxide and releasing oxygen. Their root systems can help reduce the risk of floods and landslides. Some provide food for humans and animals… the list goes on. At Teckro, considering our quest to eliminate paper from clinical trials, it made sense for us to look at reforestation as a way to give back to the planet.

But as I’ve come to learn, not all trees are equal. In Ireland, for example, there is concern for restoring native forests. That’s why it was important to us that One Tree Planted reforestation projects plant native tree species vital to rebuilding local ecosystems. Additionally, One Tree Planted has an effective use of technology including computers, satellite internet and drones for monitoring projects and collecting data even in remote areas. Given that at Teckro we support an approach to remote monitoring for clinical trials that is more tech savvy and less people on planes, that parallel with One Tree Planted resonated with us.

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We’re excited to have Teckro’s support for our reforestation project in Ireland. We admire their dedication to protecting the environment and raising awareness in the clinical trial industry on the importance of ecosystem restoration.

Matt Hill

Founder and Chief Environmental Evangelist at One Tree Planted

Together, Contributing to Ambitious Plans

One Tree Planted has many business partners and I believe it is fitting that Teckro joins the ranks. We are in good company with AstraZeneca, which has a vision for an “AZ Forest”, and 50 million trees planted as part of the zero-carbon program I mentioned above. Collectively, all our efforts contribute towards the ambitious vision of 1t.org – a global movement founded in partnership with the World Economic Forum, to restore, conserve, and grow 1 trillion trees by 2030.

Trees are life. They are a reminder of the past and give us hope for the future. I look forward to keeping you updated on our progress with One Tree Planted – perhaps you could even consider planting a tree yourself.