Can I use 'Fortunately' in an academic paper
If you, yourself, question the usage, then you should probably avoid it. 

I think that in the present case, if you need a bridging word, then "However" works just as well. 

In general it is probably a bad idea to ban any given word, not knowing all possible contexts in which it might be used. 

That said, I find no problem with using "Fortunately" in this context. It is, indeed, fortunate that the times and the work of others have come together to provide us with ways to a solution of the problem at hand. In other times it might not have been possible, for example.