Google Maps and Google Earth are the centerpiece of NYCGo, a new information and reference project launched by the New York City government to provide resources to both visitors and locals. Wednesday’s launch announced the debut of NYCGo.com, a Google Maps-fueled local search and reference site, as well as the unveiling of the renovated New York City Information Center a few blocks north of the tourist-heavy Times Square district.

NYCGo.com contains not just Google map and search data, but also travel deals from Travelocity and local content from what-to-do powerhouse Time Out New York, nightlife culture magazine Paper, the New York Observer, and eco-living guide Greenopia.

The information center, located on Seventh Avenue between 52nd and 53rd streets, is equally Googly. The city’s technocratic mayor, Michael Bloomberg, even contributed a guest post to the official Google blog to announce it: “The Information Center features interactive map tables, powered by the Google Maps API for Flash, that let you navigate venues and attractions as well as create personalized itineraries, which can be printed, emailed or sent to mobile devices,” the blog post explained. “Additionally, there’s a gigantic video wall that utilizes Google Earth to display a 3D model of New York City on which you can map out personalized itineraries.”

Bloomberg has been aggressive about promoting tech initiatives during his time in office, from a wind power plan (part of the much bigger “GreeNYC” project) and a city-run venture firm. Under his watch, the Mountain View, Calif.-based Google opened its New York satellite office, taking over several floors of the historic former Port Authority building downtown.

A side note: the video provided by Google shows the “interactive map tables” in the new information center, and they look a whole lot like Microsoft Surface units. But they aren’t, a representative from NYCGo tells us. They’re custom-made.

Google powers new NYC information hub | Webware – CNET.

Never before has the coverage of the transition of power been so readily available to so many. The inauguration of President Barack Obama was seen and heard by millions on the National Mall Tuesday. The world also followed the event on TV and through videos, photos, map mashups and Tweets across the web.

It’s just a small sample of what Obama (arguably the nation’s first tech president) can expect. Instead of merely having to contend with the press corps, he’s also got the whole blogosphere and Twitterverse watching his every move. Naturally, his advisers and media people will be trying to capitalize on the online momentum, much as they did during the campaign.

While it has only been a matter of hours since Obama took the oath of office, the new WhiteHouse.gov website is already up, and considering the new man in charge fought hard to keep his BlackBerry, the next four years are sure to see a whole new era of how technology is used to connect the people to power.

“Just like your new government, WhiteHouse.gov and the rest of the administration’s online programs will put citizens first,” writes Macon Phillips, the Director of New Media for the White House in a new blog post.

“One significant addition to WhiteHouse.gov reflects a campaign promise from the president: We will publish all non-emergency legislation to the website for five days, and allow the public to review and comment before the president signs it.”

Hopefully he’ll update his Twitter account again soon as well. In the meantime, the Inaugural Committee had its own Twitter feed of updates prior to and during the event.

Interactive Inauguration of Obama Is Just the Beginning | Epicenter from Wired.com.

Dogged by Errors: A link to photos of the First Family mistakenly leads to a gallery of Presidential Pets. Oh well, it’s only Day 1.

Change certainly came to Washington Tuesday, but change.gov did not. President Obama‘s former transition Web site is now defunct, with a note sending visitors to whitehouse.gov. The official presidential Web address relaunched as a shiny social-media hub at 12:01 p.m.—even before Obama took his delayed oath into office.

Immediately, the twitterati and tumblr set were abuzz over the site, noting how similar it looked to the campaign’s previous sites (with its twilight blue background, Gotham font and a YouTube video highlighting the president-elect’s train journey this past weekend) and marveling at the new chief executive’s continued technological prowess. But it’s worth wondering how many of these observers had ever actually looked at President Bush‘s site. It also had news updates (much like the blog on Obama’s White House site), an “Interactive White House,” a newsroom-like “Setting the Record Straight” feature, and slideshows—and oh yes, that famous Barney cam.

So the real difference is that the new site glosses with the buzzwords of social media and pristine politics: transparency! Participation! RSS feed! All these look good on paper (or, in this case, on screen) but delivering on the many promises won’t be easy—making the Web site a near-perfect metaphor for the entire Obama presidency. The premier blog post, written by the director of new media, Macon Phillips, introduces a framework full of features, few of which are ready to use. Things that do work, like the slideshows, are rife with bugs. Early Tuesday evening, Obama’s new site still referred to him as the president-elect in some places, and a link to a gallery of first families shows you pictures of presidential pets. “[Phillips's] first message was just about openness,” says Rex Sorgatz, an online media consultant who runs fimoculous.com. “But you can’t just crack open a wiki and say, ‘Go at it.’ Even forums or comments won’t produce anything meaningful. You need to have a filter in order for productive discussions to rise to the top.”

Sorgatz and other Web experts agree that the new site has the framework to accomplish this, but that much will depend on how effectively Obama’s new media team develops applications. One plan announced by the White House is to let the public review and comment on non-emergency legislation for five days before the president votes on it. Another allows readers to suggest their own priorities for government, which other readers can vote on, with the most popular plans bubbling up to the Oval Office. “Everything’s worth a shot,” Sorgatz says. “But most likely, the things that will work on the site will be more targeted.” FULL ARTICLE BELOW:

Can New Whitehouse.gov Deliver on Its Promises? | Newsweek Politics: The Obama Presidency | Newsweek.com.

Technology News: Wikis: Collaboration and the Productivity Revolution.Collaboration is one of the underestimated facets of Web 2.0, but it’s one that businesses should not ignore, writes PBWiki CEO Jim Groff. The real opportunity of Web 2.0 is allowing business-to-business collaboration, which improves productivity.

The Web 2.0 revolution has spawned hundreds of cover stories, thousands of companies, and millions of words of hype. But there’s one thing it hasn’t brought: Profits.

With the coming of the credit crunch and the global recession, hype won’t pay the bills. That’s why the next wave of Web 2.0 will be using collaboration to help businesses do more with less.

Read complete article…