When using "Fortunately" in a technical paper, the appending statement can appear subjective; and hence shouldn't be used in an academic context (?). When used to highlight, for instance, the solution to a potential problem:
"Thing X must be able to do difficult task Y. Fortunately, many existing solutions are available that can do task Y"
It seems to me than the subjectivity of 'fortunately' actually depends on context. If task Y is something controversial, such as drone strikes against military hospitals (to take a very extreme example), then the statement following 'Fortunately' can seem perverse to many: It comes across as if the author is in moral agreement of performing task Y.
Now imagine if task Y is something harmless, such as "the envisioned calculator must be able to store user preferences between power cycles.". In this case, 'Fortunately' is a very applicable adverb to use: "Fortunately, many cheap forms of solid state storage are commercially available in the target form factor."
Can I/Is it safe to use 'Fortunately' in an academic paper?