[zuzun]

The problem is that the designers of small icons already work with pixel-snapping and for complex graphics, dumb quantization will look and compress no worse. If you want to work on path optimization, improve Inkscape's path simplification, because why bother with the alignment of a control point that isn't necessary in the first place!?

[jhgb]

This algorithm should find that very pixel snapping if it exists. Path simplification seems like a more complicated issue, but also promising of course.