Applying this concept to a group of people makes sense only if the group's boundaries are clearly delineated and if its members act in a coherent way towards furthering well-defined goals. In my opinion, several items on your list don't satisfy these criteria, namely (1), (2), (5), and perhaps even (9).
I propose the following test to determine whether a group is well-delineated and coherent enough to speak of it as having optimization power: apply to it the iron law of oligarchy, and try to identify the small, closely-knit subgroup that exerts effective power over the rest and directs its workings. If no such subgroup can be found, then it follows from the iron law that the group cannot work coherently towards any well-defined goals. (The real oligarchy, of course, may coincide with the system of formal titles within the organization fully, partly, or not at all.)
For example, in business corporations, the oligarchy is clearly identifiable because it is identical with the formal management structure. Harvard University, on the other hand, appears to have no real oligarchy of its own, which suggests that its subdivisions, and perhaps even individuals within it, work independently or within other oligarchic institutions with overlapping membership. Thus, an accurate analysis of "optimization processes" that take place should focus on these subdivisions, individuals, and other institutions, and what apparent coherence exists at the level of Harvard (or academia in general) requires a non-intentionalistic explanation.
I praise your thinking on the subject. Do you have any guesses about the institutions /structures in today's world, that show both power and coherence?
Most long term users on Less Wrong understand the concept of optimization power and how a system can be called intelligent if it can restrict the future in significant ways. Now I believe that in this world, only institutions are close to superintelligence in any significant way.
I believe it is important for us to have atleast some outside idea of which institutions/systems are powerful in today's world so that we can atleast see some outlines of how the increasing optimization power will end up affecting normal people.
So, my question is - what are the present institutions or systems that you would classify as having the maximum optimization power. Please present your thought behind it if you feel you are mentioning some unknown institution. I am presenting my guesses after the break.
Blogospheroid's guess list
Institutions I found significant outside this list is the Singaporean and Abu Dhabi city governments, very rational and increasing their significance in the world, but highly restricted from fooming because of constraints.