This Tuesday the 27th, a group of researchers, thinkers, planners, and policymakers will talk about broadband access for Philadelphia's communities.

The panel discussion will take place from 5 to 7 p.m. at the University of Pennsylvania’s Annenberg School for Communication, 3620 Walnut Street, on Penn’s campus. It is sponsored by the Open Technology Initiative at the New America Foundation and the Annenberg School for Communication.

Presented in partnership by the New America Foundation's Global Assets Project and Open Technology Initiative 

Mobile connectivity is the critical infrastructure of the information age and, as the Arab Spring has exemplified, a solid foundation for a more empowered, connected, and inclusive society. Nearly 6 billion mobile-cellular subscriptions exist worldwide, and mobile penetration has reached 87 percent globally, according to the International Telecommunications Union.

If there had been any doubt before, events over the past year have underscored just how important the Internet has become for activists fighting for human rights and democracy around the world. Social networks served as a powerful organizing tool and demonstrated the importance of digitally networked communications for organizing, newsgathering, and international conversation. But 2011 also highlighted the vulnerabilities of digital activism to censorship, filtering, surveillance, manipulation, and other even more drastic tactics like the shut-down of Internet and wireless services.