Last week in Silicon Valley, FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski and Knight Foundation announced the winners of the ‘Apps for Communities Challenge.’

$100,000 in prizes were awarded for apps that bring local information to underserved communities.

The Grand Prize went to Yakb.us which provides bus riders with arrival times – in English and Spanish – when a five-digit bus stop number displayed onsite is texted to the local transit agency.  The Second Grand Prize went to Homeless SCC, which connects homeless people and families with services according to their specific needs and eligibility in Santa Clara County. The Third Grand Prize went to Txt2wrk, which helps parolees, the homeless and other job seekers compete on a more level playing field by allowing them to apply for jobs online thorugh a text-to-speech delivery of job postings on any mobile phone.

Below are photos of the award ceremony, courtesy of Fission Strategies.

The Apps for Communities Challenge is part of Knight Foundation’s efforts to foster digital inclusion and promote broadband adoption. The contest sought to take advantage of the local, public information coming online – on topics from education to health care, child care, government services and jobs – and make it easily accessible to the public.