Coming soon: A new set of apps from the Sunlight Foundation that will put government information on a range of topics – from the environment to health care and personal finance – at the click of a website or smart phone. Knight Foundation is funding them with a $1.2 million grant announced today.

The new National Data Apps will “give you unprecedented access to critical information that will bring us a step closer to closing the transparency gap in Washington,”Sunlight Foundation’s Ellen Miller wrote.

Said Eric Newton, Knight Foundation’s vice president for journalism: Government in the digital age could be more open than ever but only if we can make public information easy to find and use ‘ like these applications promise to do.”

The funding also expands Sunlight Live, which covers major events in Washington with’streaming video, government transparency data, journalistic background and social media coverage.

Read more today’s news release and Ellen Miller’s blog post on the announcement.