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 Earl J. Bass e-Business Achievement Award
Honoring Current Contributions that Advance E-Business Message Development
Purpose
The Bass award recognizes outstanding achievements and leadership in support of the development and use
of electronic data interchange (EDI) standards and eXtensible Markup Language (XML) messages during the
past year.
Earl J. Bass, known by all as "Buddy," was the principal author of the first set of EDI standards manuals
based on input from transportation industry work groups. He designed the format and specified the content
of those documents with a clear path toward continuous updates. Hailed as one of the "founding shapers of
EDI," Buddy's initial assignment was to ensure that the work group developed was presented in a comprehensive and
understandable manual. That first publication, in July of 1975, created without assistance from computer
automation and completed over three months, included forty-five transaction sets, sixty-eight segments,
and 189 data elements.
As a technologist, perhaps Buddy's most significant contribution to EDI is the simple, elegant, coded
syntax notes used to unambiguously describe the conditional requirements of data elements within a segment.
Buddy coined a significant amount of EDI terminology, such as the terms "reference designator" and
"requirement designator," as well as the use of the words "mandatory," "conditional," and "optional."
Buddy was a member of the U.S. Joint EDI committee that aligned the segment and data element directories
of several standard setting organizations, including that original transportation focus, the ASC X12
community - primarily focused on general business applications, along with the grocery and warehousing
industries. As chair of ASC X12, Buddy was instrumental in securing the U.S. role within the international
EDI community under ASC X12's control.
As he accepted DISA's Edward A. Guilbert Award in 1995, Mr. Bass expressed an essential tenet of the
standards setting process: "...leave your corporate hat at home and wear your industry hat; come to
negotiate and compromise and don't push your own company's systems and procedures-that way we'll end up
with the best standards."
Evaluation Criteria
Nominees are assessed based on:
- Stellar, Pioneering Achievements
- Leadership in the development and use of CICA documents and other components used to
construct eXtensible Markup Language (XML) schemas used to validate XML messages.
- Information on the nominee's professional career, as it relates to
significant achievements over the past year in e-business message development
- Additional Statement from the Nominee's Sponsor Regarding Qualifications
Nomination Period
The nomination period for the 2012 Bass Award has ended.
Evaluation Process
The nominations are reviewed based upon the Evaluation Criteria and
the candidate's application.
Presentation of Awards
The DISA Awards was presented during the General Session of the
2012 ASC X12 Fall Standing Meeting
on October 1, 2012 in Rochester, NY.
2012 Bass Award
John Bock
The 2012 Bass Award recipient is John Bock of eEmergence. Mr. Bock championed the development of the first set of ASC X12
implementation guides to support the reporting of post-adjudicated data for institutional, professional and dental claims.
These implementation guides will enable the health care sector to meet federal and state reporting requirements. Mr. Bock has
been a member of ASC X12 since 1996, and has made significant contributions to the advancement of EDI within ASC X12 and other
standards related organizations.
Bass Award Recipients
| 2012 |
John Bock |
| 2011 |
Margaret Weiker |
| 2010 |
Matthew Heironimus |
| 2009 |
Thomas H. Lyons, III |
| 2008 |
David Feinberg
Terry Garber |
| 2007 |
Don Bechtel |
| 2006 |
June Arnold
Lisa Shreve |
Questions?
Please contact Guy Mayer at gmayer@disa.org or (703) 970-2052.
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