It’s easy to take important science and tech developments for granted, especially when the pace of change is so swift. But 2015 is a year of crucial innovation anniversaries, making it a great time for a reflective pause on some remarkable achievements.

It’s been 25 years since the Hubble Space Telescope was put into orbit, which has transformed the way we see the universe and our place in it. Astronomers can now calculate its age and size more accurately, and have even been able to prove the existence of supermassive black holes. It’s also the 25th anniversary of the founding of the Human Genome Project. This has brought huge benefits to humanity in a wide range of fields, not least in genetic medicine, where it is helping to improve diagnosis and treatment of a range of rare diseases.

At Microsoft, we’re celebrating a few innovation anniversaries of our own. It’s been 25 years since the birth of PowerPoint, for example. And in Europe, it is 10 years since the Microsoft Development Centre Serbia (MDCS) flung open its doors. MDCS has made a significant contribution to advancing digital skills in the region, and to projects and products that are proving a success with millions of people around the world.

Here are three reasons why we think the MDCS is pretty great: