# calculate sum of col1 and col2
DT[, sum(.SD, na.rm = TRUE), .SDcols = c("col1", "col2")]

# summarize sum of col1 and col2 in col12
DT[, ("col12") := rowSums(.SD, na.rm = TRUE), .SDcols = c("col1", "col2")]

# use suffixes to summarize col1_value and col2_value into col12_value
DT[, paste0("col12", "_value") := rowSums(.SD, na.rm = TRUE), .SDcols = paste0(c("col1", "col2"), "_value")]