Faiz Krisnadi is currently a second-year student in the Master in International Affairs programme at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy. Originally from Klaten, Central Java, his perspective is informed by the visible socioeconomic gaps in his hometown. He grew up observing local snack sellers near his school who lived strictly day-to-day without the means to plan for the future, a reality that stood in contrast with the luxury he saw in more urbanised cities. While his earlier educational background focused on International Relations, his two years at the school have led him to conclude that most modern policy challenges are deeply interconnected. This realisation prompted him to explore urban development as a concrete entry point for addressing broader inequality.
Bridging Information Gaps through the Indonesia Flood Map
This shift in focus eventually directed him towards the problem of flooding in Indonesia, a country where seasonal flooding is a recurring reality for communities across the archipelago. His research into historical data indicated that these flood events are not isolated occurrences but a systemic issue that has been worsening in both frequency and scale every year. Faiz identified a gap in existing disaster information systems, noting that while millions of data points are generated during floods, most platforms focus only on immediate warnings rather than long-term history. He turned to Google’s Groundsource, a research initiative that uses the Gemini AI model to scan decades of unstructured news reports and public archives to create a structured list of historical flood events. Using the publicly available dataset released by Google Research, Faiz visualised these records specifically for the Indonesian context. This allowed him to translate complex, raw data into a format that helps local officials and the public identify recurring patterns and trends. Despite not having a formal technical background, he taught himself the methods required to visualise historical flood patterns across the country.
The Indonesia Flood Map, visualising events from 2000 to 2026.
In March 2026, he launched the Indonesia Flood Map, an interactive platform designed to visualise flood history from April 2000 through February 2026. The application features a dashboard that identifies areas frequently affected by disasters and tracks intensity trends over time. Users can filter data at the provincial, city, and sub-district levels, accessing specific metrics such as the number of unique flood events and maximum coverage ratios. For Faiz, the project represents applied research, where the goal is to create a tangible impact on disaster mitigation rather than focusing solely on academic results.
His time at the school provided the specific framework for this project, particularly through courses like Population Health and Social Policy. This curriculum introduced the concept of “planetary mindset”, which links climate change to broader issues like ageing and global health. Additionally, his year-one quantitative methods course and a specialised Python course provided the technical logic needed to design the research. These academic experiences helped him move beyond a simplified view of social change, replacing it with an understanding of the complex variables involved in urban governance.
Practical experience during the Global Leadership Challenge, an event connecting young leaders across boundaries to address local issues, also catalysed the building of the flood map. Working under budget and manpower constraints to solve problems for real-world clients reinforced his reliance on mathematical logic and technical tools to address social disparities. He views the development of the flood map as a starting point for more comprehensive data-driven policymaking. He plans to continue refining the platform by collaborating with individuals from diverse professional backgrounds to ensure the data is as robust as possible for official use.
Securing the Future: The Care Sovereignty Protocol
While the flood map addresses physical and environmental vulnerability, Faiz has applied a similar logic to the economic sphere, viewing both natural disasters and social care duties as shocks that can lead to long-term dependency. This led to his latest research on the economic dimensions of inequality, in the form of a proposal called the Care Sovereignty Protocol. The protocol addresses the economic penalty often faced by those who provide unpaid care, such as parents or individuals looking after the elderly. Faiz proposes a system where caregivers earn personal pension credits that stay with them regardless of their job or marital status. To protect privacy, the system uses a verification method that allows the state to confirm they are eligible for the benefit without actually seeing or collecting their private family data.
Faiz, alongside other finalists, is presenting their proposals at the St. Gallen Symposium.
This proposal earned him a spot as a finalist in the Global Essay Competition at the St. Gallen Symposium in May 2026. Out of thousands of applicants worldwide, Faiz was selected among the top 100 participants to be flown to Switzerland. The stakes grew higher still when he was named one of the top three finalists invited to present their ideas on the main stage. The final rankings were kept secret until all presentations had concluded. When the results were announced, Faiz had secured second place globally.
His success at St. Gallen is a reflection of the coherence and conviction behind his research. This effort to replace individual sacrifice with systemic protection serves as the common thread through his work in both flood mitigation and caregiving policy. Across his various initiatives, Faiz explores a question shaped by his background in Central Java: the capacity of policy to dismantle the systemic vulnerabilities that drive persistent inequality.