Brussels, 30/11/2012 (Agence Europe) - The new European agency focusing on the Schengen area and internal affairs will begin its activities on 1 December in Tallinn, Estonia. This agency will be responsible for managing the Schengen Information System (SIS I and SIS II), the Visa Information System (VIS), the Eurodac system (database containing asylum seekers' fingerprints) and other information technology systems in the Schengen area. It will ensure that these large-scale information systems are operational 24 hours a day. The agency's headquarters will be based in Tallinn, but tasks relating to technical development and operational management preparations will be overseen in Strasbourg and Sankt Johann im Pongau, Austria. (SP/trans/fl)