Maria Sankoh is a legal researcher specialising in artificial intelligence regulation, data protection law, and digital rights in West Africa. Her doctoral research focuses on developing a stakeholder-informed regulatory framework for AI in Sierra Leone, with a particular focus on the Data Protection and Right to Access Information Bill 2025. This survey is a key component of her LLM Research Instrument, gathering views from policymakers, legal professionals, academics, civil society, and technology practitioners across Sierra Leone.
This research develops a regulatory framework for AI in Sierra Leone grounded in real stakeholder perspectives. It examines how aware Sierra Leoneans are of AI risks, what drives AI adoption, how ready institutions are, and whether the proposed legal framework is adequate.
The study is one of the first of its kind to bring together legal analysis, stakeholder data, and comparative regulatory approaches in the West African context.
Sierra Leone stands at a pivotal moment. AI-driven technologies are entering every sphere of life — healthcare, justice, finance, education, governance — at a pace that outstrips existing legal frameworks.
The Data Protection and Right to Access Information Bill 2025 is a landmark step. But whether it goes far enough, and whether institutions have the capacity to implement it, are the central questions this research answers.
This study has been designed in accordance with the ethical guidelines of the University of Bradford. Participation is entirely voluntary. All responses are anonymous — no personally identifying information is collected unless you choose to provide it.
Data collected through this survey will be used solely for the purposes of academic research leading to a PhD thesis and associated academic publications. Data will be stored securely and deleted after the research is complete.
