Good morning. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. is giving away the proprietary database that it guarded closely for many years as a valuable tool for assessing the risk of securities, a sign of how the business model of the tech sector is migrating into new markets along with software itself. “It’s the content, tools and analytics we’ve been working on for decades, and we’re putting it in the hands of clients,” Goldman CIO R. Martin Chavez told the WSJ’s Justin Baer. Under his guidance, Goldman has adopted many emerging technologies such as containers, which make it more efficient to run software.

Giving away software is a familiar concept in the world of tech startups, and has migrated into traditional tech companies such as Microsoft Corp. too. The idea is to establish a standard, and then sell products on that platform, and it has worked, but with varying degrees of success. For small tech startups looking to go public or be acquired, making a profit wasn’t always a top priority, although the latest generation of startups is putting more emphasis on profit, some investors say.

It’s still tricky for tech companies to make the business model work, but refinements are underway, Jake Flomenberg, a partner at venture capital firm Accel Partners, said at a meeting with Work-Bench, an enterprise VC fund and start-up workspace. Nonetheless giving away software, which may also include providing users the ability to modify it in a practice known as open source, is here to stay. Platforms are the path to the ultimate goal of pleasing the customer. Says Mr. Flomenberg: “There is a massive shift going on in the ways technology is bought.” Does free software play a big role in your technology? Let us know.

Mitsubishi Motors names first global CIO. Masao Kuruma, who has worked in a variety of senior technology posts at Sony Corp. since 1983, will help the company revamp its enterprise resource planning and transition to a new information system, the company said.

TECHNOLOGY NEWS

Microsoft working on Slack competitor. A Microsoft news blog reports that the company is developing a competitor to Slack, the popular group messaging and collaboration tool. MSPoweruser reports that the application, called Skype Teams, will offer a similar user experience and many of the same features as Slack, including channels, but it will also include threaded conversations and Office 365 integration. MSPoweruser reports that Microsoft plans to first release Skype Teams to Office 365 subscribers.

Companies remain wary of U.S.-EU pact. Multinational companies remain wary of the Privacy Shield data-transfer agreement between the U.S. and the European Union according to a recent survey of 600 privacy professionals. Only 34% say they plan to use the agreement, the WSJ’s Dana Heide reports. The European Commission says 103 companies have been certified under Privacy Shield since the U.S. Commerce Department began accepting applications Aug. 1. By comparison, more than 4,000 firms had been certified under an earlier agreement, known as Safe Harbor, before it was invalidated by the European Court of Justice last year.

Using technology to protect from mass shootings. As the start of school brings renewed focus on mass shootings, the WSJ’s Christopher Mims reports on new devices and systems aimed at locking down classrooms and keeping kids and teachers safe.

How Snowden escaped. With Oliver Stone’s upcoming film Snowden Movie set to renew conversation on Edward Snowden’s role in the ongoing debate over privacy and possible government overreach, the National Post looks at the two weeks in 2013 Mr. Snowden spent in hiding in a Hong Kong slum after first leaking classified documents stolen from the National Security Agency. 

Amazon cooks up London food delivery. Amazon.com Inc. is trying out meal deliveries from certain London restaurants, in a move to gain share in a burgeoning marketplace for chef-made food at home, Reuters reports. To customers with its Prime delivery service, meals over about $20 will be free.

Ireland tests transparency as appeal of Apple ruling looms. The Irish government has taken several steps to be more transparent about its arrangements with foreign companies operating on its soil, the WSJ’s Stu Woo reports. Its parliament is expected to overwhelmingly approve an appeal of the EU’s decision on the Apple Inc. tax-recoupment case with wide cross-party support. Attached, however, is an order for an independent review of the country’s corporate-tax system.

New malware targets Android banking apps. Cybersecurity researchers at Kaspersky Lab said they have discovered a new type of malicious software that circumvents security features on version 6 of the Android mobile-phone operating system, allowing criminals to infiltrate banking apps and steal credit-card details, the Journal’s Robin Sidel writes.

Mergers streamlined by new back-office tech. As companies become more dependent on complex software systems to manage their businesses, smoothly combining different platforms is becoming a bigger factor in a merger’s success. CFO Journal’s Vipal Monga reports that new software systems for accounting, inventory tracking and supply-chain management are helping companies combine operations faster by automating some of the grunt work that previously was done manually.

U.S. personnel management hack preventable, congressional probe finds. A congressional report released today recommends that the federal government make an effort to hold on to qualified chief information officers and incorporate a “zero trust model” with stricter controls on user access to data, Reuters reports. The report also blames a lax security culture at the U.S. Office of Personnel Management for contributing to factors that led to the theft of sensitive data belonging to more than 22 million people.

EVERYTHING ELSE YOU NEED TO KNOW

Surging demand from drivers in the richest countries helped power a big rally in crude this year. But many analysts say that surge is ending. (WSJ)

Apple is expected to unveil an iPhone without a headphone jack, which means any wired headphone you currently use won’t plug in directly. This wouldn’t be the first time an Apple hardware change disrupted customers. (WSJ)

European stock markets were mostly flat, as investors cautiously tested the waters one day ahead of the European Central Bank’s policy meeting. (WSJ)

Volkswagen is exploring a joint venture to make electric cars in China with a state-run company as part of its aggressive push into electric-vehicle production. (WSJ)

Tom Loftus contributed to this article. The Morning Download comes from the editors of CIO Journal and cues up the most important news in business technology every weekday morning. Send us your tips, compliments and complaints. You can get The Morning Download emailed to you each weekday morning by clicking http://on.wsj.com/TheMorningDownloadSignup.