Yes the public interest research has been very internally oriented, pretty much surveying staff and docs.  What will be needed next is a look at the world outside ICANN, how the concept has been employed in telecom and other sectors around the world, then think about whether any bits of that may be relevant by analogy etc.  Frankly I think they should hire a couple hungry academics who do international telecom policy (not me), doing this properly will need a solidly researched information base.