The concept of SAVOIR can be represented in a diagram shaped as a wheel. This wheel represents the dynamic SAVOIR process with the objectives in the middle:

• Create a community of active stakeholders
• Improve the way we deliver space programs
• Set a product philosophy approach
• Deliver usable products

The 4 core activities of Savoir are identified:

• System Architecture: agree on the perimeter and allocate the functions to the Building Blocks, define interface;
• Building Blocks: define a first set of Building Blocks, their level of standardization and their implementation roadmap, refine interface;
• Reference Functional Specifications: work on the variability and modularity of the Building Blocks to get maximum re-use and optimization, distribute and reuse reference specification;
• Product Use Assessment: close the wheel with the measurement of the effectiveness; get feedback which might lead to a redefinition of the system architecture and BB.

An architecture is the fundamental conception of a system in its environment embodied in elements, their relationships to each other and to the environment, and principles guiding system design and evolution.
A reference architecture is a single, agreed and common solution for the definition of the architecture of avionics systems. The elements which are part of the conception will be defined at functional level in the Savoir architecture, and will correspond to the building blocks defined in the second step. The relationship between the elements will lead to the definition of the standard interface.